Roger & Me

Rating:
Summary: Whoa! Talk About Jaw Dropping
Review: Micheal Moore. Conservatives hate him. Moderates respect him and liberals think he is the American hero! That being said I admire much of Moore's work. The Awful Truth, Stupid White Men, and most of all Bowling For Columbine. But no matter how far left or right or in the middle you stand on the political spectrum, you have to at least respect Micheal's first film Roger and Me. Armed with only a camera and a mike, he sets off to a working class American town by the name of Flint Michagan, where GM while making record profits has just laid off thousands and thousands of workers. The reason? To ship the jobs to Mexico where the workers there are only paid pennies an hour. He shows how one act of corperate greed can lead to the entire destruction of a town and of it's people. This is the story of the lost American dream. It is incredible what people are going through, such as the woman and her rabbits, which I won't say what she does, but it is brutal. Or his attempts to interview Roger Smith, the man responsible for the layoffs. But the most damning scene is the final one where goes back and forth between Roger Smith giving a speech to his co-workers about having a great year, to a poor woman being evicted from her home ON XMAS EVE! Michael Moore is an American hero to, he is always ready to stand up for the little guy, and this video is just one of his many great works. I recomend getting the Awful Truth season 1 or 2 and I also recomend watching The Big One and Bowling For Columbine. In truth Michael Moore has no answers, he only poses tough questions that in truth have no easy answer, these films will leave you stunned and thinking hours on end.

Rating:
Summary: 'O Roger, Where Art Thou?? (4.5 stars)
Review: Say what you will about Michael Moore, but I think the guy knows how to make some very entertaining and interesting documentaries. I may not see eye-to-eye with him on a lot of things, but this was one entertaining film! This is the one that made his career what it is today. Highly praised by critics and audiences all around, "Roger & Me" proves to be a fascinating documentary filled with humor and heart.

The film revolves around the closing of General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan. The closings causes families to lose their homes, their jobs, and most of all their well-being. Michael Moore is determined to get General Motors Chairman Roger Smith to come down to Flint and see the devastation his company has caused. Of course, just trying to MEET the man throws all sorts of obstacles in Moore's way... and it's all caught on film! All of this equals an entertaining documentary that is unpredictable and untamed.

I'm not that big on documentaries, but I have to admit that I enjoyed this one. Michael Moore does an excellent job of bringing to light problems that may seem so insignificant to the rest of the world. And he's determined too, which is why this all works. He tries so many times to get in touch with Roger, no matter what kind of trouble he runs into. His passion is easily observed through this movie, that's for sure.

The DVD isn't the grandest of DVDs. It's not in widescreen, but for a movie like this it really isn't that big of a problem (I'm not even sure if this was originally shot in widescreen or not). The picture and sound quality is pretty good, considering how old it is. The theatrical trailer and commentary are the two special features on the DVD. I think an important film of this caliber should've received better DVD treatment, but what can you do? It is what it is.

"Roger & Me" is a surprisingly witty and sharp documentary that shows you a side of Big Business that was never meant to be seen. Coming from a guy who doesn't really fancy documentaries all that much, my advice to you is to pop this baby into the DVD player and strap yourself in for one wild ride.

Rating:
Summary: Even better than Bowling for Columbine
Review: If you are a Michael Moore fan, you simply must have this for your collection. Even if you have never heard of Michael Moore, you will enjoy this story. Moore takes you on an eventful journey as he sets out to confront Roger Smith (GM). You will laugh, cry, and become enraged. I watched the film and then watched it agin with the commentary immediately after. This is a rare occurance. My only suggestion to make the DVD better would be to add an alternate ending in which Moore ultimately gets Roger Smith alone and sticks a foot up his hiney :). Although the story takes place in the 1980s, it is truly a timeless tale.

Rating:
Summary: Dark and Disturbing
Review: Roger & Me is the documentary about Michael Moore's journey to find GM Chairman Roger Smith. His journey takes him through the desolate areas of Flint, Michigan where Smith decided to close the GM plants and move the company to Mexico where wages were cheaper. Thousands and thousands of people were now unemployed, families were torn apart, crime skyrocketed and the city of Flint became one of the worst cities to live in according to Money magazing. A woman was raising rabbits for food. This was, for me, the most disturbing part of the documentary. She first describe how she killed the bunnies then she gave a demonstration, which I couldn't bring myself to watch. City Council tried to revive the city by building a theme park; closed after 6 months, a Hyatt hotel which went bankrupt. The only new building that lasted was a five story jail which had to be built because the old one was filled to capacity. This is a truely horrible thing to happen to people. Moore goes along with the Deputy and watches as he has to evict families from their homes.. even on Christmas eve. At a shareholders meeting, Moore does get a chance to speak with Smith but they decide to adjourn the meeting. After a three year search, Moore finally meets Smith. He asks him to visit Flint and Smith declines.

Rating:
Summary: SEE THIS MOVIE NOW!
Review: I just finished watching "Roger and Me" for the first time. Wow. This guy Michael Moore really has his head together. A total attack on greed and how this Roger Smith guy honestly cares more about money than peoples' lives. It really shouldn't be rated R though (the only instances of excessive swearing is when the poor family gets evicted (on Christmas Eve, mind you!) the woman of the house shouts out the F word a few times (right in front of little children, sadly). Everyone should see this movie. It nearly made me weep. There is a scene where Moore is interviewing a lady that slaughters rabbits, and I know the movie's rated R because I guess Moore doesn't want little kids to be horribly traumatized by that scene. Well, I'm eighteeen years old and the scene horribly traumatizes ME! Because normally when you watch a movie you think "Oh it's just a movie, there's nobody that evil in real life." but in this documentary, it's real. Sad.

By the way there really should be a sequel to this. I mean what's the rabbit lady doing now? And the deputy evictor? Is Roger Smith still head of General Motors?

One more thing you won't find is during the credits you won't see a disclaimer saying "No animals were harmed during the making of this film." They were. Oh and the most powerful moment in the whole film comes if you stay tuned when the credits stop rolling at the very very end you'll see "THIS FILM CANNOT BE SEEN IN FLINT, MICHIGAN. ALL THE MOVIE THEATRES HAVE BEEN TORN DOWN."

Rating:
Summary: A Contray View
Review: There are many reasons for seeing a film. In many ways this is a well made film. Michael Moore is very skilled at what he does. If you are a film student, you could probably learn something about the art of film, particulary political film, from this movie. Also, if you agree with Moore's political views, (and in some ways I do) you will find positive reinforcement here. If you are looking for humor at the expense of the rich and powerful (always a popular theme) then you will like this film.

However, if you are looking for a balanced view of the situation to be able to draw intelletent conclusions then this is not the film for you.
My objection to the film is that it is not a true documentary. In a documentary we expect some objectivity. We want to see both sides, and that is not the case here. You might say, "But the reason for that is he never gets to interview Roger!" Of course he doesn't interview Roger, but is that necessary to show both sides? Balanced documentaries have been done on the historical situations and people long dead without interviewing them.
As an exercise in balance, put yourself in the place of "Roger". You have been hired to turn around a giant company that is sinking fast due to foreign competitors which are doing things much better. You know you will have to lay people off, and close factories, all unpopular things to do. You are being given a large salary because the company needs a savior and they don't come cheap. Now along comes Michael Moore, an unknown filmmaker with no credits or credibility to his name (at that time) who wants to interview you and is most likely going to try to show you in a bad light. You will not have control of how he edits the material. Would you accept the interview? Maybe you would and maybe you wouldn't - that is up to you, but I think you could see that there are reasons why a person might not accept the interview. There is nothing really wrong with making a film that has a strong political slant. Many very famous films are in this catagory. Two that come to mind are "Birth of a Nation", the mounuental civil war film which also had a pro KKK slant as part of its complex theme, and "Hangmen Also Die" the famous anti-nazi film. However, such films usually are fiction and do not pretend to be balanced. There are also famous slanted "documentaries," that were produced in Russia and in Nazi Germany. These are essentually propoganda films which are highly skilled in the way they use emotions such as fear, acceptance, pity, shame, ridicule and fear of being grouped with those that are ridiculed, envy and hate to gain acceptance of their ideas. Moore's film falls in this catagory, but it is exceptional in that the use of emotion is implied, hidden and subtle rather than obvious. The film seems to be making reasonable arguments on the surface and attempting to be balanced, But a close look shows that the balance is maily supported by the device of not being able to interview Roger, and the reasonable argument is one sided.
As I said earlier, there are many reasons for seeing this film, I guess the reaon for my low rating is I felt betrayed by the film. In some ways I agree with Michael, but I feel that if I am going to agree with Mr. Moore, I would want to do so after honestly looking all sides of the situation, not because of ridicule and emotion.

Rating:
Summary: At least MM is consistent
Review: Once again another MM project that has a few, good points. That's it people, a few, good points. The problem is then his points are wasted because of a smug, arrogant attitude. This is a constant theme in all his work. Those of you who think it's "hilarious" do not understand capitalism - or worse yet have some kind of problem with a company that makes a profit. MM has a personal axe to grind over Flint, Michigan, and he does this well. Bottom line, it's easy to gripe and rant when something doesn't work. It's harder to provide solutions. Thanks Mike.

Rating:
Summary: DOES ONE PERCENT OF TRUTH MAKE SOMETHING 100 PERCENT TRUE?
Review: Michael Moore takes some facts and makes documentaries in which some small percentage of what he says is true, and mixes that with a huge portion of lies. Does this make the sum of the whole True? Answer: No.

This is the preferred method of con artists, who desire to use truth to build their larger lies. This is the identified method of Michael Moore, and the fact that this is his method is that with which is known by me and millions of humans capable of reading and analyzing information.

STEVEN TRAVERS
Author of "Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman"
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Manipulative
Review: This is not a documentary, any more than the 1930s works of Leni Riefenstahl were documentaries. It is cleverly manipulated, cleverly-designed socialist propaganda by one of the biggest blowhards in the film industry.

Yes, Flint MI was hit hard by layoffs. So were a number of other rust belt towns (including my hometown). But if this was a true documentary, Mr. Moore might have examined some of the reasons for plant closures other than the greed of General Motors. Had he the courage to dig beneath the surface, he might have discovered greed of a different sort - e.g. that of the UAW top guns who dictated horrendously stupid, inflexible work rules.

Also lacking is any discussion of greed at the government level, which taxes corporations to death. I guess when your objective is to uphold paternalistic government, you tend to cherry pick history to support that view, and that's what Mr. Moore has done here. Not fun.

Rating:
Summary: Great Documentary
Review: One of the best documentaries I ever seen. He put the comedy elements in the right place so the movie wouldn't be so depressing. In a free enterprise economy you have to take the bitter with the sweet. Closing the plants was a business decision that really had nothing to do with the people. For a business to survive it has to cut its losses.