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 Michael Moore (right) in "Capitalism: A Love Story"
Movie Reviews
Capitalism: A Love Story
It's been 20 years since populist filmmaker/gadfly Michael Moore made his landmark documentary "Roger and Me," and in that time the bleak economic shadow over his hometown of Flint, Mich., has only gotten bleaker and spread over the United States as a whole.
R
(2009)
Publication Date Oct. 2, 2009
In "Capitalism: A Love Story," Moore revisits some themes of "Roger and Me," this time attempting to tackle the nation's capitalistic structure itself. All Moore's trademark schticks (comical agitation outside office lobbies, use of 1950s film strips and stock footage, common-folk sob stories) are present. "Capitalism ... ," with its wildly ambitious subject matter, sprawls and meanders across such topics as the mortgage crisis, the shockingly low pay of commercial airline pilots, the business practice of taking out secret life-insurance policies on workers (chillingly referred to as "dead peasants" by corporate bigwigs), union busting, and the political corruption involved with the recent federal financial bailout. Moore interviews families who have lost all their worldly possessions, Catholic priests who decry capitalism as immoral and un-Christian, a slimy Realtor proudly billing himself as a "condo vulture," government officials and even his own father, a former General Motors employee. The film's essential argument is that the current U.S. system of capitalism (based on greed and profit for the rich at any cost) is evil. It's a purposely inflammatory argument and, if overly simplistic and shaky at times, raises an appropriate level of outrage. Why, Moore asks, have so many Americans been left destitute while the government gives billions of tax-payer dollars to already wealthy financial fat cats? And why do we the people allow it to happen? Good questions! Moore's tactics can grow tiresome (do the already tear-jerking stories of suffering families really need to be underscored with such mawkish music? Do we really need more cheap shots at Bush and Cheney?) and the revolution he's calling for seems to lack clarity. The values of capitalism vs. democracy vs. plutocracy and so forth may be just too broad a venture for a single two-hour movie to address satisfactorily. But whatever your political persuasion, whether you love Moore's films or hate them, "Capitalism: A Love Story" will anger you, entertain you and make you think. A timely and impressive piece of propaganda, "Capitalism ..." should impassion both right- and left-leaning viewers, if for different reasons. It's a firecracker of a film and, even if audiences aren't entirely convinced by Moore's call to arms, well worth viewing and discussing. Rated R for language. 2 hours, 7 minutes. - Karla Kane
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