Release Date:
Friday, October 11, 2002
Once again, Michael Moore drags his sarcasticand bulbousass before a camera as he attempts to unravel Americas love affair with guns and its obsession with fear. Presented in a semiserious light, he charts the origin, development, and modern fascination our country has with the weapon that accounts for the most annual murders per capita anywhere in the world.
Drawing on horrific experiences such as Columbine, Moore embarks on a crusade to stir up debate, and although quite thorough and sensible in his approach, the seriousness of the issue at hand is somewhat slighted because, well, Michael Moore is in it. Oh, and because Moore is a longtime member of the NRA, and because the movie is interjected with South Parklike cartoons on Americas history, and because the film includes interviews with gun-crazy rednecks. The security-camera tapes from Columbine High School exemplify the more morbid perspective, while Moores interview with NRA President Charlton Heston finds the filmmaker doing what he does best: making people squirm in the face of undeniable truths. Moore walks a tightrope, trying to infuse humor into a delicate matter, and at times you wonder whether this is just a farce. Ultimately, he reaches the conclusion, that, ahem, America has a gun problem and it wont be long before another person gets shotlike three minutes. As a documentary, fine, but your money would be better spent on something safer and more productive, like a water gun.
Drawing on horrific experiences such as Columbine, Moore embarks on a crusade to stir up debate, and although quite thorough and sensible in his approach, the seriousness of the issue at hand is somewhat slighted because, well, Michael Moore is in it. Oh, and because Moore is a longtime member of the NRA, and because the movie is interjected with South Parklike cartoons on Americas history, and because the film includes interviews with gun-crazy rednecks. The security-camera tapes from Columbine High School exemplify the more morbid perspective, while Moores interview with NRA President Charlton Heston finds the filmmaker doing what he does best: making people squirm in the face of undeniable truths. Moore walks a tightrope, trying to infuse humor into a delicate matter, and at times you wonder whether this is just a farce. Ultimately, he reaches the conclusion, that, ahem, America has a gun problem and it wont be long before another person gets shotlike three minutes. As a documentary, fine, but your money would be better spent on something safer and more productive, like a water gun.