Sicko

How does one review a Michael Moore movie? Do you review it based solely on whether you are entertained or moved? Can you give an unbiased review if you either agree or disagree with the man and his methods? Do you just put who he is aside and look specifically at the issue at hand? I really don't know. What I do know is that Michael Moore is trying to raise the level of debate in this country. Sadly, he puts so many people off with his methods that only those who vehemently agree with him will probably even see the movie, so it negates the debating ability of the film. The man himself causes quite a stir in most circles of people. He is a rabble rouser, an overweight, smug, self satisfied man who goes out of his way to ruffle the feather of those on both sides. Is he genuine in his caring for the subjects about which he documents? Yes and no, if you ask me. I felt he really cared about gun control in Bowling For Columbine, but Fahrenheit 9/11 felt like it was only for the money. Of course, that could have been because it just came out too early. At the time of the release of Fahrenheit the country was still mostly solidified around 9/11 and the war on terror. If he had released it today with Bush's approval rating constantly dropping, it might have rung a bit more true, but that is neither here nor there for his new movie.


Sicko is not about those without health insurance as Moore tells us at the beginning. It is for those of us with health insurance. It is for those of us who belong to HMOs. It is for Americans in general. Now, when dealing with a Moore film you know what you are getting yourself into. He may round some numbers up or down to fit what he is doing, but he doesn't just pull things from thin air. He may show worst and best case scenarios to get his point across, but in the end it is almost always very effective and this movie is full of incredibly effective moments. Unlike Columbine and Fahrenheit, Moore is not the main character in this movie. Yes, we here his voice throughout but he lets his subjects get a majority of the screen time here. He travels all over our country, Canada, France, Britain and most famously, Cuba. We hear horror stories of the HMO system from patients, former HMO doctors, HMO call screeners and a few other inside people who are disgusted by what they used to do. Now, I am not sure entirely how I feel about the issue of health care in our country but this movie will make you disgusted by it. We watch a woman break down into a blubbering mess as she recalls her daughter dying in a hospital because it was not an Kaiser hospital and the insurance would not be paying for anything. Then we go to another country where a woman had a kid with the same condition but was able to get help without problem because she lived in France, the country with the best health care. In this movie it seems that some sort of socialized medicine is the best method, although the other side is always quick to point out that the care is usually less than stellar.


The thing in this movie that gets me in the final 35 minutes when Moore introduces us to 9/11 rescue workers and 9/11 volunteers who have health problems due to that horrendous day in our history. Now, one could say that Moore is merely playing on the emotions of the country, but I have to disagree. First of all, when you see Moore with these people you can see how much he cares about our 9/11 heroes. At times Moore comes off smug and pretentious but here is where you see the humane side of him in spades. He is attempting to show us that if our heroes (and make no doubt about it, those who helped in 9/11 are the pure definition of heroes) can't get appropriate care then we are screwed! Now in his glorious stunt at the end of the movie, Moore attempts to take 3 boatloads of people to Guantanamo Bay to get them medical care because the prisoners at that prison are given incredible amounts of health care. It doesn't work, so instead, Moore takes them to a Cuban hospital where the sick people get every test they need, all the medication they need and great service for very cheap. Now, who knows if that is how it usually goes, but considering Cuba is supposed to be the land of Satan, it was a very touching moment to see these 9/11 heroes finally getting the care they needed.


I still believe a debate needs to happen on this issue and I think more people should see this movie. It is quite funny with a great Star Wars bit in there and Moore knows how to effectively use music and sound bites for comic effect. He is a professional at this stuff and this is a very solid movie. I laughed and I teared up. I was outraged when I was supposed to be and I laughed at the audacity of our country when I was supposed to.