Fahrenheit 9-11

Depending on your political tilt, you either love Michael Moore or you think he's fat. Fahrenheit 9/11 won't change your opinion on either count, but it will make you think. And while that usually spells doom for a summer movie, here it's welcome. Starting with Bush's "victory" in the 2000 presidential election (Moore's smug intonation, not ours), Moore takes shots at W's leisurely schedule, slow reaction to the September 11 attacks, and his connections with the Bin Laden family en route to questioning the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. Unlike Moore's previous work, Fahrenheit keeps the filmmaker off screen as much as possible, freeing him to do his finger-pointing via clips of a snickering and golfing president, confused and angry U.S. soldiers, and war-torn civilians in Baghdad. There are still some humorous moments—Moore reads the Patriot Act through an ice-cream truck PA system while circling the Washington Mall—but Fahrenheit sticks mostly to a serious agenda. Interviews with angry vets and newly childless parents provide more anti-Bush sentiments and suggest that, this time, Moore's out to get his point across, not his face on camera.