THE DECAY THAT WILL CONSUME US ALL: a review of "Capitalism: A Love Story"

An archived review originally written October 6, 2009

"CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY" Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Moore
**** (4 stars)

I realize, going into this particular review, that trying to place a critique upon a Michael Moore film almost invariably comes with analyzing the man (or persona) himself. After 20 years of filmmaking, beginning with 1989’s groundbreaking “Roger and Me,” Moore has presented his uncompromising vision of a flawed America that has consistently left him open to a blitzkrieg of attacks on his representation of facts, his character and overall patriotism. For me, I have thoroughly enjoyed his work over the years, which has always provided me with a deeper insight into the cracks in our supposedly superior political and economic systems. But, starting with 2002’s highly controversial “Bowling For Columbine,” there seemed to be something deeper at work for Moore than during the snarky cinematic eye-pokes of his earlier efforts, most notably his two television series “The Awful Truth” and “TV Nation.” His gaze became more wide-screened, his passions and sorrows even more overt, his humor became more savage and his rage became brutal. The stakes had been dramatically raised by the material our country and its leaders had been providing him and it seemed that the more outrageous the powers-that-be performed and operated, Moore was there with an equally and preposterously flagrant vilification. After taking on former President George W. Bush and the Iraq war in 2004’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and the health care industry in 2006’s mournful “Sicko,” Moore now arrives with “Capitalism: A Love Story,” an enormously entertaining, informative, perceptive and at times, pulse pounding epic that seems to be the culmination and defining statement of all of his work thus far.

After a tongue-in-cheek warning to the audience about the intensity of the film’s content of which we are about to see, we are presented with a brief review of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire juxtaposed with modern day images of life in America. Moore argues that America is currently in a parallel state of decline as the abuse of capitalism by the top 1% of our country has effectively destroyed democracy and replaced it rampant avarice, greed and power-mad control. It may be more than a little easy to dismiss his bellowing as reactionary, hyperbolic pap but as his film continues, I would think it would be difficult to fully disagree with him and besides, what is past is prologue.

As the film continues, we are presented with a kaleidoscope of stories ranging from people losing their family homes during the mortgage crisis, the closings of factories nationwide and the eventual desolation of neighborhoods. Moore returns to his hometown of Flint, Michigan for a poignant sequence with his father, a man who worked for the auto industry for 33 years and provided for his family through a capitalism that, at the time, was comparatively decent and fair. The look on his father’s face as he surveys the scorched earth landscape of what was once a thriving community is heartbreaking. Was this the world he had expected would be left behind for future generations? And so it goes. Again, Moore explains that we have all been failed by a corrupt system that is now eating itself from the inside because ultimately, the system as we now know it is evil and “you can’t regulate evil.”

Probably the most powerful section comes near the film’s conclusion as we are graced with footage of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, shortly before his death, speaking to the camera with his proposal of a Second Bill Of Rights which states that ALL Americans should have the RIGHT (not a privilege) to proper health care, strong education and a home in which to live and raise your families. Moore eloquently states that in the 65 years after his death, America has had none of those rights for its citizens while Europe and Japan have them all. The effect is scathing, sobering, blood boiling and overwhelming. Yet before, the audience can feel completely disillusioned and helpless, he gives us two stories of those who rose upwards and defended themselves against the system and were victorious. For me, this presented a spirit of the America I see in my head where we come together and help each other not for any personal gain but just because it is the right thing to do.

And now, of course, the man himself. Michael Moore’s filmmaking skills simply cannot be denied, even by his detractors, as he is a master of pacing and finding exactly the right image to fit the mood, tone and concepts of which he is describing and rallying against to simultaneously humorous and devastating effect. Of course, this has provided his critics with issues of his possibly bending the truth to fit his ends and that he is most likely not even a documentarian anyway. Well, to that, I say that his films really are not documentaries. They are the cinematic equivalent of Op-Ed pieces and yes, he does use imagery to fit his themes and present his vision of how he sees the country. It’s his film starring his opinion and there’s nothing wrong with that. Choose to see it or not. I am certain that someone with the opposing viewpoint could take the same images and spin them to fit their views too and I invite those people to do so for a cinematic debate of this nature would be exciting and provide more voices into the dialogue we desperately need to have. There is truth in facts, but facts are not necessarily the truth. I can see how his passions may allow Moore to possibly go too far at times, but I do applaud this tendency because we are living in times in which those that have all have indeed gone too far.

Some reviews have even called out certain weariness to his gadfly tactics and showboat grandstanding. That the lack of subtlety in his work is tiring and even disgraceful. I can understand that criticism too but again, we are not living in times that demand subtlety. It demands outrage. For me, as I look out into a world that has become so desensitized to the horrors our government and top 1% percent have enacted upon us, especially over the previous eight years, I think Moore’s unsubtle tactics are just what we need and more than ever. He has been lambasted by a few for shoving a camera into the crying faces of the defeated. That it is tasteless to see a family forced to exit their farm after four decades due to nothing more than government greed. That it is discomforting and maybe gratuitous to watch another family, and small child in particular, tearfully recounting the loss of the young matriarch. Well…it IS gratuitous and it SHOULD be because this family in particular is at a loss to understand how the company she once worked for (in this case, Wal-Mart) had secretly taken out an insurance policy on her and collected millions of dollars after her death—a sickening and shocking tactic known as “Dead Peasant Insurance.” These images Moore chooses to present to us are designed to empathize and enrage, for the crimes being committed are possible to occur to any of us now that the politics of Reagan and unending deregulation have finally and disastrously come to pass. What should we be angrier about? A movie or a government and economic system that would even devise of something like “Dead Peasant Insurance” or even “derivatives,” a completely illogical and purposefully confusing financial scheme meant to gamble away the money we all earn? Yes, the image of Moore wrapping Crime Scene tape around the New York Stock Exchange is a typical shocking move but it is one filled with honest anger at a system that exploited the very people that created it and continues to steal from them even after a massive bail-out.

Michael Moore is obviously not against making money, as he himself is a very rich man who made his fortune from the capitalist system in which we, the public, chose to see his movies over others. Like “Sicko,” what Moore is decrying is not based in a partisan issue as people from all walks of life and political ideologies are being bled dry, like the victims of a vampire, from the actions of the powerful few on both sides of the political aisle. What Moore is talking about and what we are currently dealing with is a profoundly moral issue. We have somehow morphed into a time where there is no such concept as “enough” and the cards are stacked so high that we have become disillusioned, apathetic and some of the victimized succumb and even support the very politics that are holding us all under. And how can we continue to allow this to happen? We must remember that these people are public servants who are ultimately in the positions they serve because they are elected. We still have the power to send them out of power and we must somehow find that strength to not become anesthetized and rise up for what we believe in.

For Moore’s fans, you will most likely enjoy this film. His detractors of course will have much to say and probably not even see it at all. However, I do gently urge them to see it as having the information allows for the debate to continue properly and perhaps there is something previously unknown to discover. The reach of Moore’s film is wide and somewhat of a swan-song as Moore asks us to pick up the mantle he has carried for so long and take part in the outcome of our nation. As he boldly states near the film’s conclusion, “I refuse to be part of a nation where these things are allowed to happen…and I am not leaving!”

Michael Moore says what needs to be said, and most importantly, bothers to ask the questions that need to be asked, especially since our mainstream media has long given up trying. “Capitalism: A Love Story” is one of my favorite films of 2009.