Battle of the Mikes

I’ve been faced with quite a dilemma lately.  See, it was a year or so ago that I first heard about Michael Moore Hates America.  Being the foe of Moore that I am, I took a keen interest in the project, and have been promoting it on both my blogs ever since.  Mike Wilson and I have even become friends.  So it was quite an interesting situation the other day when a thought occurred to me:  what if the movie sucks?  What if, after all this time, I go and see the movie and it isn’t any good?  Do I get on the blog and be honest, or do I pay it lip service and quietly avoid mentioning it ever again?

Well, my friends, tonight I went to the premiere of MMHA at the Writer’s Guild here in Beverly Hills, and in a word, it’s spectacular. 

Despite its title, the film isn’t a hatchet job on Moore in any way, shape, or form.  To be sure, he takes aim at Moore, but at his techniques and his overall message, rather than in the type of political-is-personal, take-no-prisoners style that Moore champions.  As much as I would love to give you a blow-by-blow account of the film, I honestly don’t want to spoil it for you.  You NEED to see this film.

And, surprisingly, I also think you need to see both Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 before you do.  Wilson’s points are well-made, but if you have not seen the Moore works he is referring to they will lose a lot of their significance. 

Without going into too much detail, I will describe one significant part of the film.  In Fahrenheit 9/11 Moore’s most emotionally devastating footage comes from the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq.  No matter what your feelings towards Moore or his message, this woman’s pain is palpable and tears you right in the gut.  Moore supplements her contribution with footage gleaned from news stories on veterans returning from Iraq as amputees or otherwise severeluy wounded.  One of the soldiers featured in Fahrenheit 9/11 is a double amputee, losing both his arms.  He was used in Fahrenheit 9/11 without any permission or knoweldge of it beforehand, and he is pissed.  This man brings Wilson into his home and clearly explains how wrong Moore is about military life.  The most jaw-dropping moment in the film is when this man, with one arm missing and a hook attached to the other, looks at the camera and says, “I joined the Army to make my life better.  And it did.” Astonishing, and truly moving.  That one scene is worth the price of admission alone.

The film is playing this weekend at the Liberty Film Festival .  I’ll be there.  If you can make it you should stop by.

Mike, my friend… you hit it out of the park.  Babe Ruth called his shot and so did you.  I doff my hat to you, brother.  Bravo.  Bra-fucking-vo.  It’s a masterpiece.