Like many others, I hesitate to call Moore's films "documentaries"; Oscar win notwithstanding, it's become less trouble to remove them from that (ostensibly) "objective" label altogether and consider them to be what Orson Welles called his great 1975 effort F For Fake: essay films. Looking at the Moore filmography through that prism at least helps this writer free himself of the (at least subconscious) guilt for admiring the films in spite of their refusal to bow to the documentary traditionnot only in failing to present opposing viewpoints, but also for their loose, freewheeling structures (particularly in Bowling for Columbine) that some dismiss as rambling and disorganized.
So dismiss the ideology if you'd like, or tear into the minor points of contention, but make no mistakeSicko is a tremendous film, possibly Moore's best, equal parts devastating fact, hilarious social satire, and genuinely moving emotion. Moore acknowledges (following a brief prologue) that the film is not about the 50 million Americans who are completely uninsured, but the 250 million who think they're covered, and their battles within our broken system. The film's first act is the story of a few of those Americans, and while Moore's reliance on anecdotal evidence may not be the greatest journalism, it certainly makes for good dramaand better film-making that a laundry list of statistics.
The second act takes us on a tour of foreign countries and their government-run health care systemsalong with some helpful rebukes (though again, primarily anecdotal) of the usual (and usually right-wing) arguments against "socialized medicine." In a strange way, however, Sicko becomes about more than health care; Moore discovers other advantages of living in England or France, and wonders why America can't boast of the same.
I'm sure that some more narrow-minded critics will seize on these passages as proof of Moore's anti-Americanism, but I think it's just the oppositehe loves our country, but knows it isn't perfect. Here, it seems, are some ways in which it could be better. What could be more patriotic than that? I will say that I wish the advance hoopla over Moore's trip to Cuba hadn't leaked out, as the film is structured in such a way that it would have been a nice surprise. That being said (and concerns about the validity of that footage aside), it leads to some amazing footage of (at long last) care for people who genuinely deserve it, and a quite scene at a Cuban firehouse that moved me in a way that no other 9/11 commentary has.
At the end of the day, Sicko is simply an extraordinary filmfunny and powerful and moving and scary (it gets under your skin in the same way Bowling did). It provokes thought, not just about the health care system, but about our country as a whole, and what we want from it. Oh, and it's got one of the best closing shots in recent memory.
So dismiss the ideology if you'd like, or tear into the minor points of contention, but make no mistakeSicko is a tremendous film, possibly Moore's best, equal parts devastating fact, hilarious social satire, and genuinely moving emotion. Moore acknowledges (following a brief prologue) that the film is not about the 50 million Americans who are completely uninsured, but the 250 million who think they're covered, and their battles within our broken system. The film's first act is the story of a few of those Americans, and while Moore's reliance on anecdotal evidence may not be the greatest journalism, it certainly makes for good dramaand better film-making that a laundry list of statistics.
The second act takes us on a tour of foreign countries and their government-run health care systemsalong with some helpful rebukes (though again, primarily anecdotal) of the usual (and usually right-wing) arguments against "socialized medicine." In a strange way, however, Sicko becomes about more than health care; Moore discovers other advantages of living in England or France, and wonders why America can't boast of the same.
I'm sure that some more narrow-minded critics will seize on these passages as proof of Moore's anti-Americanism, but I think it's just the oppositehe loves our country, but knows it isn't perfect. Here, it seems, are some ways in which it could be better. What could be more patriotic than that? I will say that I wish the advance hoopla over Moore's trip to Cuba hadn't leaked out, as the film is structured in such a way that it would have been a nice surprise. That being said (and concerns about the validity of that footage aside), it leads to some amazing footage of (at long last) care for people who genuinely deserve it, and a quite scene at a Cuban firehouse that moved me in a way that no other 9/11 commentary has.
At the end of the day, Sicko is simply an extraordinary filmfunny and powerful and moving and scary (it gets under your skin in the same way Bowling did). It provokes thought, not just about the health care system, but about our country as a whole, and what we want from it. Oh, and it's got one of the best closing shots in recent memory.