Synopsis
This comic-yet-scathing documentary begins as an autobiography, as Michael Moorerecounts his formative years in Flint, Michigan, accompanied by all kinds of amusing stockfootage. From here we segue to the closing of GM’s Flint plants, a move that devastated thetown. Moore begins a quixotic quest to confrong Roger Smith, the head of General Motors, andalong the way winds up in all kinds of amusing (yet revelatory) situations. He also meets manycolourful characters in his hom… town as he chronicles the economic destruction of Flint. Thoughhe isn’t above playing with the facts in much the same way that his opponents do, Moore is aconsistently funny, vital force of nature.
Audio
Not too much to say here. The sound is mono, but then, this is a documentary after all. Muchof the time the only sound is Moore’s voice, and a surround treatment of that (which wouldprobably have happened with a remix) would have been too distracting for words. So mono itis, and the mono is clear and free of hiss.
Video
The picture depends very much on the quality of the source material, so naturally footagefrom old 50s TV shows and the like will be grainy. So is much of Moore’s footage, but again, theseat-of-the-pants nature of his enterprise means this is to be expected. More problematic is thefact that the aspect has been changed to fullscreen.
Special Features
Apart from the theatrical trailer, the only extra is a commentary by Moore, which creates thestrange effect of watching a film with two simultaneous narrations (since the film itself playsa bit like a DVD with commentary). There are some long gaps in the commentary, butMoore does fill us in a lot on the film’s background and his approach to filmmaking. The menu’smain page is scored.
Closing Thoughts
The fullscreen is disappointing, though this isn’t a film dependent on artistic composition.This is a seminal film, though, and its release is welcome.
Special Features List
- Director
- Theatrical Trailer
