Directed by Michael Moore
Starring – Michael Moore, Donald Trump, David Hogg
The Plot – Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 11/9” is a provocative and comedic look at the times in which we live. It will explore the two most important questions of the Trump Era: How the f**k did we get here, and how the f**k do we get out?
Rated R for some adult language and some disturbing material/images
POSITIVES
– No film in theaters currently that is more important. In general, ‘Fahrenheit 11/9’ feels like a ferociously unnerving wake-up call to Americans everywhere, and it does so by displaying how we a freedom-seekers have abandoned our own ideals in favor of corporate greed and selfishness. Moore cuts to the heart of the issue, refusing to ever apologize or relent in the focus of his topics, and regardless of how you feel about him as a person, you understand that he’s someone who has more than done his homework of what’s enclosed.
– As a narrator, Moore excels at informing and relating these often cryptic governmental terms and conditions to the audience, allowing even the most inexperienced viewer a chance to keep up. In this regard, Moore feels like an everyman filmmaker who is here, first and foremost, for the people, standing at eye level to meet them every step of the way. There’s never a moment in his newest film that ever felt overwhelming or trailing off, and this sense of persistence within the material allows the audience to keep their attention firmly on the rapid discussion.
– Versatility in footage used. Whether it’s on the ground cell phone coverage, or network stock footage that captures the complete spectrum of what’s depicted, Moore is an editing magician at piecing together enough visual evidence to back up his salty claims. Being that his film ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ was so long ago, it’s a welcome approach to involving the benefits of technology, and Moore’s reach for a multitude of angles properly relays the whole story by conjuring up a curtain-peeking perspective.
– No voice goes unnoticed. In Moore’s desire to film and interview citizens in many diverse locations across this country, we are treated to a wide-range of on-ground commentary from the voice of the voiceless. This offers us the audience our most reflective glances of the real truths boiling beneath the fabricated media and hyperbolic headlines that we’re used to. Nothing of which is more somberly crippling than the citizens of Flint who take us through four trying years of heartache and loss. Moore goes front-and-center where most politicians haven’t, and it’s this candid delve that nourished the food for thought that comes with so many living in poisonous conditions.
– Electoral College faults. One of my biggest problems with the themes of democracy has always been the ideal of Electoral College voting. It’s a big business ploy to appeal to the upper one percent that does more damage than good, and the documentary does a solid job of expressing this disposition of compromise. This more than anything is proving to be a voter’s biggest obstacle, because when they figure out that their votes don’t matter, why should they vote? and it’s that thought process that candidates like Trump thrive on, diminishing the left majority of the country that gave him the second most amount of votes in the 2016 election.
– Without question, Moore’s strongest ability as a filmmaker is his ability to stay bi-partisan on issues and circumstances that are a reaction of so many things done wrong by the right and left. If you think this is a film that is just about what Trump has done wrong, then you’re sorely mistaken, as ‘Fahrenheit 11/9’ highlights the many insensitive and consequential decisions that negated the Obama presidency that often many left-wingers conveniently overlook. Michael, while a long time democratic voter, thrives as a reporter without influence, and because of such it allows him to be the curious party necessary to uncovering these shocking truths from two respective sides that have gotten us to this moment.
– While I had some problems with the pacing and linking of such deep-seeded issues that Moore discusses, I can commend him for touching base and giving attention to many important issues that require an eye of curiosity. Particularly in the subplots of the Flint Water Crisis, big bank meandering upon political parties, and my personal favorite: the new generation of blue-collar candidates who aren’t lifetime politicians. Moore tends to hint that if we want something done, WE have to do it ourselves, and this layer of optimism in seeing so many everymen and women from our own communities, is something that gave me great pleasure within the film.
– Lasting power. I believe this film’s greatest accolades have yet to be written, and that it will stand as a welcome mat for the next twenty years for how it shapes and re-defines what it means to vote. Films like these are inspiring for how they prove not only that politicians are regular people like you and me, but also how they prescribe the notion that one voice moves miles. If you don’t stand up for what you want, someone will come along and shape America in the way they see fit, and through Moore’s ever-changing ball caps and citizen arrests of high-ranking officials, we are treated to the man who practices what he preaches.
NEGATIVES
– Manipulative musical score. For my money, it’s a bit over-the-top when Moore accommodates people like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders with these popular tracks in pop-culture, yet narrates Trump with these darkly ominous Italian choirs, signaling something of Damien levels of terror. I see the intended purpose, but it feels too desperate and meandering over the facts that more than equate the problems. As I mentioned above, Moore does mostly a great job of staying in the middle, but this one example was something that had me rolling my eyes for how truly unnecessary and repetitive it was.
– Much of the material is etched in fact, but there is that occasional slip-up when Moore oversteps his boundaries in his hatred of Trump for what feels like mud-slinging. To know the problem, you must know the difference, with one being based on fact while the other is opinion, and it’s in the matters with the latter that I wish were left on the cutting room floor of a film that already exceeds two hours. Particularly the material involving Trump’s questionable affection of his daughter added nothing to the bigger picture of problems that feel leap years above this angle.
– Scattered second half. It doesn’t hurt to attack these many subplots one at a time, but when you step back and stare at the entire bigger picture, Moore’s anticipated sequel can come across as a bit disjointed. Particularly in how he transitions the material from one arc to the next requires a little more helming of the transitional bridging that smooths it all out. Because of such, it constantly feels like the film is in appropriately convenient DVD chapters instead of one cohesive project that works together.
7/10