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?

The Method/El Método (2005) - Madrid-set job interview, reality-themed thriller

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The entire cast of Marcelo Piñeyro's The Method

An unusual corporate thriller without any bloodshed, The Method is based on Jordi Galceran's (Dakota (1996)) play The Grönholm Method/El Mètode Grönholm (2003) written by Mateo Gil (The Sea Inside/Mar Adentro (2004), co-writer) and co-writer-director Marcelo Piñeyro (Burnt Money/Plata Quemada (2000)).

7 applicants for a top corporate job meet for an advanced, collective interview that unfolds unpredictably: Following the mysterious 'Grönholm Method', the 7 are set to decimate themselves in order for the winner of the job to be found.

Several scenes play out nicely, with fast, dramatic cutting, and an invitation to guess at hints and choose sides in a reality TV-like fashion. The acting is good, and the characters believable. Without being phenomenal, it is an exciting and highly entertaining film for the most part.
The third act regrettably fumbles some of the nice work, as The Method fizzes out in intrigues and melodrama. SPOILER The woman (Najwa Nimri (Room in Rome/Habitación en Roma (2010))), who seems obviously the most competent and intelligent of the applicants, suddenly gives up and offers her male counterpart (Eduardo Noriega (Beauty and the Beast/La belle et la Bête (2014))) the job. Then she leaves down the street that has been messed up by an angry anti-IMF mob earlier in the day, (and is now seemingly totally abandoned?)
The implication of this last image, and the recurring sounds of the protestors, are very vague. So vague, in fact, as to become an annoyance. Whether they are there to be a symbolic attack on capitalism for the entire movie, or mean something else entirely, perhaps a gender point I am missing, it is too unclear, and it also seems very irrelevant for the practical thriller plot that was built up before it.
Piñeyro does well in adapting this extremely dialog-heavy play to the screen without it feeling heavy or dousing to the senses.The Method mostly plays like an intelligent and unpredictable reality TV-inspired film with good acting and humor as key ingredients.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: 3.4 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.13 times the cost)
[The Method premiered 14 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 115 minutes.  The film was quite successful in one of its 3 production countries Spain, where it made 2.9 mil. $ (85.3 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Argentina (another production country) with 0.3 mil. $ (8.8 %) and France with 0.1 mil. $ (2.9 %). The US was among the smallest of its 8 markets with a mere 7k $ gross (0.2 %) over the course of 2 weeks in 2 theaters.The film was nominated for 5 Goya Awards and won 2, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Carmelo Gómez (Tiempo sin Aire (2015)) (the first character to leave in the film.)) Piñeyro returned with Las Viudas de los Jueves (2009). Noreiga returned in Che Guevara (2005), Nimri in Las Vidas de Celia (2006). The Method is fresh at 71 % with a 6.2/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Method?