The Big One (1997, documentary) - Moore book tour turns into hilarious capitalist critique

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+ Best Political Movie of the Year 

 

The star documentarian looks happy but foolish in a black suit with his trademark cap, holding a giant microphone on this good-time-promising poster for Michael Moore's The Big One

American documentarian and left-wing pundit Michael Moore has just released his book Downsize This and is heading out on a tour of 50 US cities to promote it, while he visits average Americans, who are being laid off from major corporations.

The Big One is written and directed by great Michigander filmmaker Michael Moore (Roger & Me (1989)).

It follows Moore at a still early stage in his career, when he is still finding and fine-tuning his performance persona style as the 'savvy average Joe', and here ventures fully into the presidential campaign - without having a favorite - and expresses anger and critique of the country's powerful and the corporate elite: He searches out CEOs, who had obviously yet to realize that Moore needs to be stopped, before he gets in the building!

Moore exposes repulsive, amoral behavior from these tycoons and also gets a lot of gold in his camera from normal people, while he also himself delivers many sharp lines. The Big One may be his funniest film.

 

Related post:

 

Michael Moore: Sicko (2007) - Moore beats the US health care insurance system to a bloody pulp

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 720k $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a big hit (projected return of 3.60 times its cost)

[The Big One premiered 6 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. Shooting took place in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, including Chicago, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, New York, Oregon and Missouri. The film opened #19 to a 146k $ first weekend in 33 theaters in North America, where it grossed 720k $. Its only other recorded general release market was France, but the gross from there is unlisted. The budget is unknown but was likely kept small due to Moore's ingenious shooting it mostly during an already planned (and presumable paid for) promotional book tour. Set at a tentative 200k $, the film's theatrical status would be that of a big hit. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Moore returned with 7 TV documentaries and music videos prior to his theatrical return with Bowling for Columbine (2002, documentary). The Big One is fresh at 92 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Big One?

Sicko (2007) - Moore beats the US health care insurance system to a bloody pulp

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A less than desirable health care system gets an unflattering characterization on this satirical poster for Michael Moore's Sicko

The USA has the world's most expensive health care system, but 50 mil. of its populace do not benefit from it, since they are uninsured; and the majority who are insured can easily end up getting catastrophically bad or no treatment at all.

Sicko is a documentary from great Michigander documentarian Michael Moore (Roger & Me (1989)).
As usual, Moore acts as insistent man-of-the-people himself in the film, and he is in top shape intellectually here with a topic that has his full interest, namely the comparison between the US insurance health care system and the universal health care systems that he portrays in Canada, Cuba and France.
Sicko is an - especially for Americans - exceedingly depressing watch, because it exhibits how atrociously awful the state of affairs are for such a central area of every American's life. SPOILER Emotionally the film peaks with the section of how the weakest US patients are dumped on sidewalks. Another strong segment shows sick 9/11 heroes finding treatment in Cuba.
Luckily Sicko also has loads of welcome humor, especially coming from Moore himself, who plays his assumed naive Moore-American role to perfection. The filmmaker is thorough, passionate and a bit didactic, - but he has a hell of a strong case in Sicko, which may be his best film. It is role-model activist documentary filmmaking.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 36.1 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.01 times its cost)
[Sicko premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 123 minutes. Shooting took place in Havana, Cuba, Ontario, Detroit, Michigan, New Jersey, Los Angeles, California, London, England, New Mexico, New York, Paris, France and Kansas City, Missouri. The film reportedly received a 17-minute standing ovation after its Cannes premiere. It opened #31 to a 68k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,117 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 24.5 mil. $ (67.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy and France, each with 2 mil. $ (5.5 %). The film was nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar, lost to Taxi to the Dark Side. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, in line with its rating here. Moore returned with Slacker Uprising (2007, documentary). Sicko is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.71/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Sicko?