Fahrenheit 9/11 Review
by Bob Bloom (bob AT bloomink DOT com)June 29th, 2004
FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (2004) 3 stars out of 4. Written, produced and directed by Michael Moore. Rated R. Running time: Approx. 120 mins.
If the Democratic Party wants to arouse its followers to vote in November, it might try shipping copies of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 to every registered Democrat, independent or known liberal in the country.
For Moore's movie is a scathing indictment of President George W. Bush and his policies, especially of his pre-emptive strike against Iraq. Moore makes no
bones about his dislike and distrust of this president and his policies.
You may not like Moore or his ideology, but you have to admire his commitment and fervor; that is, if you agree with his viewpoint.
Others will find him a demagogue, a self-promoting grandstander, out to glorify himself as the people's filmmaker.
Your politics will guide your outlook.
Moore's premise is simple: After Sept. 11, it was necessary for Bush to obscure the complicated and tangled relationships — personal and financial — between the president, his family and inner circle, the bin Laden family and the Saudi royal family.
So instead of pursuing the Saudi connection to that tragic day — Moore reminds
us that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi — and tracing the Saudi money that helped finance al-Qaida, Moore contends that the Bush administration — through the complicity and complacency of the news media — created a national climate of fear. This was highlighted by constant FBI terror alerts, which led to the passage of the U.S. Patriot Act, a bill, Moore claims, that infringes on the basic civil rights of ordinary citizens.
Through the use of footage of talk show appearances and speeches by Bush and senior members of his administration, Moore demonstrates how the White House switched the focus to Iraq, even though Saddam Hussein's nation was not involved in Sept. 11 nor were any of the hijackers Iraqi.
Moore makes a compelling argument. However, by taking out of context snippets of speeches or sound bytes of Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld and other high administration officials, he ironically leaves himself open to the same accusations of manipulation, which is the crux of his argument.
Moore allows his righteous indignation to erupt at several points. But mostly he keeps it in check through his humor. At one point he rents an ice cream truck and drives around the Capitol reading the Patriot Act over a loudspeaker after being informed by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan that lawmakers rarely read any of the legislation on which they vote.
The filmmaker contends the strike against Iraq was not to liberate its people,
but to allow major U.S. corporations to divvy up the nation's oil resources.
The men and women in uniform, however, are treated compassionately as Moore includes clips of disillusioned soldiers who cannot understand the hostile attitude of the Iraqi people.
The film's most touching moments take place in Moore's hometown of Flint, Mich., where a mother who labels herself "a conservative Democrat" and supported the war, reads a letter from her son who was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq. The letter is filled with confusion and bitterness, as the young
soldier explains how his experiences has eroded his idealism.
Objectivity and balance are nowhere to be seen or heard in Fahrenheit 9/11. Moore's moral outrage drives his film. His passion is his movie's strength as well as its weakness.
Whether or not you agree with his viewpoint, Fahrenheit 9/11 is compelling filmmaking. See it yourself, then make up your own mind.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal and Courier Web site: www.jconline.com
Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site: www.rottentomatoes.com or at the Internet Movie Database Web site:
www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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