Six years after Capitalism: A Love Story unsuccessfully called for audiences to revolt against the evils of free enterprise, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore has returned to the big screen in a far mellower mood with Where to Invade Next.
During its initial showing at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, the documentary-style film showed Moore returning to his old tricks: hammering the United States while promoting “free” big-government programs in other nations.
Reviewer Deborah Young stated that Moore fans might be “a little surprised, but not disappointed, at this almost happy film:”
Instead of ranting over the conspicuous social failings he sees in the U.S.A., he humorously finds solutions to its ills by “invading” various countries and bringing back the victor’s spoils, which are simply other people’s good ideas.
Funny and always on topic without going overboard, it’s an engaging film that could broaden Moore’s fan base. Its premiere in Toronto was greeted with eager laughter and frequent applause.
"I was tired of being the poster boy for Fox News," Moore told the premiere crowd, explaining his six-year absence from making films. "After Ferguson and Black Lives Matter, I thought it was important to re-enlist and be part of what's happening."
According to an article by Tatiana Siegel of The Hollywood Reporter website, Where to Invade Next covers a range of topics from the benefits of female leadership to prison reform, making it a “bomb-throwing documentary” released at a time when Americans are gearing up for the 2016 presidential election.
Siegel notes:
The film contrasts the U.S. approach to education, work weeks and health care with European countries such as Finland, Germany and France.
Critics are calling it one of his funniest films, and Moore said he had not received an emotional reaction to his work that was as intense since 1989’s Roger & Me.
“With a cluster of hot-button films, Toronto 2015 might go down as one of the most controversial on record,” she asserted. The 40th annual festival kicked off when Moore issued the first salvo with his “film that takes aim at the problems he sees as eroding the America Dream.”
Young asserted that Where to Invade Next “overturns the expectations raised by its title, which suggests some kind of military critique.”
“The opening scene actually feeds this idea with a funny piece of business” in which “Moore has been summoned before the Joint Chiefs of Staff for advice,” the reviewer states. “They are at their wits’ end after losing every war they have fought since World War II: Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq again. … So Moore pledges to take over the invasions from here on out and 'do better.'"
But instead of heading for the Middle East or Asia, “Moore embarks on a whirlwind 'invasion' of Europe with his camera crew. As he goes around interviewing ordinary people, he … leaves it up to the audience to make its own mental comparisons,” Young claims.
“Wherever he travels, he finds some almost unbelievable aspect of society that works so well it’s worth importing,” she states.
“His first stop is Italy, where a young working couple explains that in their country, people have from 30 to 35 days of paid vacation each year,” Young notes.
“How is this possible?” Moore demands. “The CEO of Ducati motorcycles confirms there is no contradiction between company profits and the well-being of the workers.”
“This has a farcical ring, given the dire economic straits Italy has been navigating for years, but clearly,” the reviewer indicates, “Moore is not a stickler for details.”
Next, the liberal activist visits France, where he discovers that a five-star restaurant in a small Normandy village is actually “a normal school cafeteria.”
“The good mood extended to his invasion of Finland, where the education system used to be abysmal, on the level of the U.S., in fact,” Young states. “No more: A revolutionary new approach has raised the country’s school system to No. 1 in the world, while the U.S. comes in at No. 29. What’s their secret? No homework.”
However, Siegel notes, Moore's “schlockumentary” isn't the only film at the festival that is likely to anger conservatives.
Another such movie is entitled Truth, and it features renowned liberal Robert Redford in a sympathetic portrayal of Dan Rather, who was fired from CBS for questioning then-president George W. Bush's military record with no proof of his claims.
Young concludes her review by stating: “While Moore asks journalistic questions, he clearly has an agenda, and the film never allows any contrasting fact to interfere with it. A non-believer could easily find it infuriating on this score.”
