Movie Review: Fahrenheit 9/11

The Hook: Curiosity. To see what all the fuss is about and to be “in

the know” when people discuss the movie.

The Score: F

The Thoughts:

I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect to like this movie when I saw it, so I

was a bit biased even before seeing it. Not because he’s bashing Bush

in the movie, but because of what I’ve come to know about Michael Moore as a director.

About two years ago my brother and I saw “Bowling for Columbine.” It

was a jaw-dropping movie, to say the least. The facts and situations

that were presented were sobering and thought-provoking. And it was

entertaining, to boot. There were a lot of funny moments in it. When I

left the theater, I was amazed at how screwed up America was, how cool the Canadians were, and how helpful Michael Moore was in opening my eyes. I spent the next few weeks raving about the movie to friends and family.

Then a few months later I came across an article that ripped the movie,

citing numerous points where Moore directly and deliberately misled

viewers by some tricky editing. What was so clearly offensive in the

first viewing suddenly turned out to be the result of deftly

manipulating the facts. (And equally offensive, I might add.)

It wasn’t just one article, I should note, but a handful of them, all

examining Moore’s flagrant disregard for the facts and pushing his own opinion onto the viewers. I had to agree with the consensus: what Moore had created was NOT a documentary, but a work of fiction, based on his twisted view of the truth and then cutting and pasting convincing segments in order to support that view.

Michael Moore disgusted me.

He did it again with Fahrenheit 9/11. Early in the movie, he comments

about Bush taking the extra 7 minutes to read the book to the children

in the classroom. That’s a fact. But then he goes on to interject the

premise that Bush was connected to Bin Laden and other terrorists.

Next we see the footage of Bush again, reading along quietly,

obviously distracted and deep in thought. And Moore starts his

narrative, saying “What was Bush thinking during this time? Perhaps he was thinking…” and he goes on for five minutes, describing what Bush was “probably” thinking.

I was shocked. He was actually spouting off what he thought Bush was

“thinking” at the time, and rattles enough “facts” along the way to try

to convince the viewers that everything he says is indisputable gospel.

And that’s what saddens me, because I honestly don’t think the public

is astute enough to realize what he did, or catch on to how he did it.

It’s true. I think the majority of the viewers will hear Moore’s words

and shake their head in disgust and disbelief for what a heel Bush must

be, doing and thinking all those things. Tsk, tsk, tsk!! “And this is our LEADER!! Oy vey…”

So that was my first gripe. My second one is the fact that the movie

was profoundly boring. It wasn’t funny. It wasn’t even entertaining, in

the way Moore’s previous films were. This movie was nothing more than his stream of consciousness rants against Bush.

Were his points factual? How would I know? I’m not about to do the

legwork to see if Moore’s actually telling the truth. But based on his

shoddy work in “Columbine,” I just can’t give him the benefit of the

doubt. I won’t. Fool me once… blah blah blah…

So, yeah, “Fahrenheit 9/11″ gets a big fat “F” as a final score.

Of interesting note, there’s a film called “Michael Moore Hates

America” which the director is trying to get out to the public. The

trailer and other info can be found at:

www.michaelmoorehatesamerica.com