Review by Mike Smith
Starring: Michael Moore
Directed by: Michael Moore
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hr 59 mins
IMG Films
Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars
It’s been six years since Michael Moore released a documentary. He spent that time traveling the world on a mission. To make America the best country in the world. And he accomplishes this by “invading” other countries and, by planting the US flag, “claiming” their riches for America.
The film begins with a series of news clips from the past 40 years, highlighting our Commander’s in Chief talking about world issues. Moore overlaps those sound bites with current footage of things happening in the US. “What happened,” he asks? How can we make, with apologies to Donald Trump, America great again?
Moore begins his journey in Italy, where he learns that the average worker receives seven weeks vacation each year, along with another dozen federal holidays off. If you get married your employer gives you three weeks off – with pay – for your honeymoon. And if you’re too busy, don’t worry. Your vacation days roll over. He interviews one police officer who has 80 days “in the bank,” not including the current years seven weeks. The police man and his wife are horrified when they learn that American workers are guaranteed ZERO weeks vacation by law.
In France he visits a public school, where lunch is served on real plates and is usually a four course event. In Finland, he “claims” the education system; in Sweden, the prison system, where inmates sentenced to maximum security are greeted by a welcome video of the prison guards singing “We Are the World.”
As he continues his travels he comments on how things got away from us here in the states. What is amazing is that, when he asks the foreign leaders how they came up with their ideals, they cite that they are based on the same principles that the U.S. was based upon. Moore goes about the film with his usual sarcastic wit but the message isn’t lost. Also not lost is the message that almost 60% of our taxes goes to support our military. In Italy, a country with only two warships, it is 1%.
Fans of Moore will appreciate his ideas behind the film. Those who aren’t probably won’t. To them I suggest moving to Germany, where your local doctor can write you a prescription for a three-week stay at a posh spa to relieve the tension.