As I was walking out of Fahrenheit 9/11 a few years ago, I remember a couple of preppy guys walking out in front of me. One of them turned to the other one and said, "Dude, that movie was so biased."
I still smirk when I think of that. I guess I just never realized that when I was walking into a Michael Moore film, I was getting ready to experience the most fair and balanced portrayal of extremely important and relevant subjects. Oh, wait. That's right. I'm in a film theatre.
Michael Moore is polarizing and polemic and controversial and whatever. I get it. He is also an amazing documentarian. He fudges the facts sometimes, but it's always to prove a point. SiCKO is his best film thus far.
Be warned. This movie will piss you off. This movie will piss you off but good. Walk out of this film unaffected. I dare you.
Few movies make me tear up. I never teared up when I was kid because I didn't know anything. I didn't care. Tell me you teared up when Mustafa died and you were six years old. No. But watch it now and see what happens. Our experiences mold us and allow us to be engaged emotionally in the outcome of other people or things; whether it be an animated lion, or a 9/11 rescue worker who can't afford her inhaler. A 9/11 rescue worker who can't afford her inhaler. "What is wrong with us?" Michael asks in the film. That's what I've been wondering for a while. A 9/11 rescue worker should be able to walk in to any pharmacy and grab handfuls of their necessary medication and walk right out.
I'm not patriotic. I'm not nationalistic. The only time I show any pride of what country I was born in (Spain) is every four years during the World Cup. Sure, the United States is a messed up place. A lot of people don't like our leaders and they spend hours and hours talking and writing about it. Who cares? Nothing gets done.
The thing about this film is it completely caught me off guard. Bowling for Columbine? Yeah, I had thought about gun control and reform. Fahrenheit 9/11? Most of the facts presented I was already aware of. SiCKO?
...
Speechless. I couldn't believe the things I was seeing on the screen. In a moment of pure, gooey documentary genius, Mr. Moore sets Hillary Clinton up portraying her as an advocate for universal health care. I thought "Wow, Hillary's great. She wants to help us out." Shortly after, we find out she was silenced. Hillary Clinton had a price, and somebody did the math. So were other members of Congress, Senators, and other high-ranking officials.
A widely written-on criticism of this film is that it paints a rosy picture of other countries. This is true. France isn't perfect. Neither is England, or Canada, and God knows Cuba has it's problems. But whatever. We're not talking about the country as a whole, we're talking about one topic: health care. And all those countries beat us out. There is no reason why we shouldn't have universal health coverage. Just as there is no reason we should not all be driving electric cars (Exhibit 1A: Who Killed the Electric Car?). But whereas electric cars deal with the environment, health care deals with our neighbors, our family, and our friends. Taxes would go up if we had universal health care. Wait wait...You don't want to pay a few more in taxes and help millions of sick people along the way?
But I digress. In terms of the filmmaking as a whole, the film starts off a little slow but picks up its momentum along the way. It has some great moments of levity that don't trivialize the seriousness of the subject matter, and the editing and aesthetics are spot-on.
I can't say this film entertained me. That is my highest criteria for the film-going experience. Therefore I can't recommend this film to you on the basis of a good Friday night. After this film, you'll want to kick somebody in the jaw and then apologize because their bill is going to be through the roof.
Go watch this movie.
Go watch this movie next friday.
Friday the 13th.
-AG
SiCKO: 4.5 Homeless patients dropped off on Skid Row / 5 Homeless patients dropped of on Skid Row.
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