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SICKO
Alliance DVD
Widescreen
Dolby 5.1
"What have we become?"
Michael Moore asks, in Sicko
Of course Michael Moore's
doc/mockumentary films are pretty
much propaganda.
Love him or hate him-and it seems to
be evenly split-sort of just like the red
and blue states-you have to admit
that Moore's propaganda is of good
stock and great grist for the mill.
And although Moore scored big with
his first film, Roger And Me, won an
Oscar for Bowling For Columbine,
and shook up the Neo-Cons with
Fahrenheit 911, Sicko just might
be-on balance-his best film yet.
Because even at 2 hours length, it
does not seem quite long enough,
with the amount of ground covered.
Ostensibly, the film is about how
almost 50 million Americans do not
have health care coverage.
And it's also about the other 200
million or so that do have some
coverage, but that many times falls far
short of patient needs.
But after pointing out the deficiencies
of the US system-and the outrages
like HMOs which seem to spend a lot
of time disallowing claims-and the
good things about the UK,
French,Canadian and even Cuban
heath care regimes, the film veers off
for a treatise on the American societal
soul.
And despite the usual Moore MO of
borderline intellectual dishonesty,
bait and switch editing, and making
himself the bigger-no pun-part of the
story, Sicko really does succeed in
laying down the gauntlet on the
unholy have and have-not income
disparity in the United States.
So, in addition to the yell out loud
outrages that Moore exposes in little
or no care for certain 9/11 workers,
sick children, cancer patients and
former HMO administrators admitting
their past misdeeds, the filmmaker
spends a lot of time interviewing a
former English MP who warns and
bemoans the western world today.
What the 50 year MP-now retired-has
to say bears little bearing to health
care, but rather the care of the under
appreciated and put down masses,
whom he alleges are kept chronically
discouraged by governments totally
focused on money, and staying in
power, rather than the welfare of their
citizens. Hence low voter turn-out.
Although that concept is hardly
ground breaking, it is eloquently
presented here, especially in the
excellent bonus material that was
omitted from the original film.
This film is well worth 3 hours of your
time, whether you like Moore, or not.
Alliance DVD
Widescreen
Dolby 5.1
"What have we become?"
Michael Moore asks, in Sicko
Of course Michael Moore's
doc/mockumentary films are pretty
much propaganda.
Love him or hate him-and it seems to
be evenly split-sort of just like the red
and blue states-you have to admit
that Moore's propaganda is of good
stock and great grist for the mill.
And although Moore scored big with
his first film, Roger And Me, won an
Oscar for Bowling For Columbine,
and shook up the Neo-Cons with
Fahrenheit 911, Sicko just might
be-on balance-his best film yet.
Because even at 2 hours length, it
does not seem quite long enough,
with the amount of ground covered.
Ostensibly, the film is about how
almost 50 million Americans do not
have health care coverage.
And it's also about the other 200
million or so that do have some
coverage, but that many times falls far
short of patient needs.
But after pointing out the deficiencies
of the US system-and the outrages
like HMOs which seem to spend a lot
of time disallowing claims-and the
good things about the UK,
French,Canadian and even Cuban
heath care regimes, the film veers off
for a treatise on the American societal
soul.
And despite the usual Moore MO of
borderline intellectual dishonesty,
bait and switch editing, and making
himself the bigger-no pun-part of the
story, Sicko really does succeed in
laying down the gauntlet on the
unholy have and have-not income
disparity in the United States.
So, in addition to the yell out loud
outrages that Moore exposes in little
or no care for certain 9/11 workers,
sick children, cancer patients and
former HMO administrators admitting
their past misdeeds, the filmmaker
spends a lot of time interviewing a
former English MP who warns and
bemoans the western world today.
What the 50 year MP-now retired-has
to say bears little bearing to health
care, but rather the care of the under
appreciated and put down masses,
whom he alleges are kept chronically
discouraged by governments totally
focused on money, and staying in
power, rather than the welfare of their
citizens. Hence low voter turn-out.
Although that concept is hardly
ground breaking, it is eloquently
presented here, especially in the
excellent bonus material that was
omitted from the original film.
This film is well worth 3 hours of your
time, whether you like Moore, or not.