Fahrenheit 9/11

Last night, I finally managed to get around to watching Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's Cannes award-winning attack on Dubya. Let me start by saying that I am anti-Dubya (as regular readers have no doubt figured out) and a fan of Moore's prior work. Having said that, I can't say that this is Moore's best work. There are some very moving bits, particularly once he shifts to the Iraq war and the carnage it is causing. This is particularly true about the parts with a woman from Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan whose son was killed in Iraq. And there were a couple of good laughs, too, including the photo montage of Bushes shaking hands with Royal Saudis to the tune of REM's "Shiny Happy People" and the answer to Moore's question "what is the administration protecting us from" being footage of John Ashcroft behind a non-descript DC lectern "singing" a patriotic "song" he wrote all by himself. But overall, I don't think Fahrenheit 9/11 works as well as either Roger and Me or The Big One. Moore's at his best dealing the irony and absurdity of the big money or big power targets of his scorn and bringing them down to size. Something about the subject here just doesn't fit his style.

As for the accuracy of the film, there are no doubt parts that are not 100% accurate - no documentary ever is. Dubya haters are going to have their feelings confirmed by the film, while Dubya fans aren't going to be persuaded by it. I think the overall story Moore tells is probably more true than false, however.