The country where many claim to be the only place in the world where you can make dreams come true is also the place that is in most need of a heart…transplant. Much in the same vein as his previous two documentaries, Sicko is the sort of damaging and damning report on another America pandemic and so happens to be a subject matter with practically no dividers. Religion, political alignment or race becomes a non-issue this is about being lucky or unlucky.
The medical insurance industry and controversial government policies are met with the sort of DIY docu-entertainment style of filmmaking that searingly bites into those responsible – which means all of the above. Knowing how to hit them where it hurts, Michael Moore collects tons of average American horror stories, slices and dices morsels of embarrassing not to hard to find moments in current administration and much to the dismay of drug companies, insurers, hospitals, and other profiting people might begin to blush a color red instead of the seeing only green. You can bet that after making a splash at Cannes, Lionsgate will make sure that this documentary film will be more readily available than prescription drugs and lifesaving medical procedures.
It’s amazing what the web can do for finding victims willing to speak out. Via his popular website, rather than try finding his many talking heads, Moore has an easier time finding those who’ve been wronged by their insurers with a simple posting. These people then become the catalysts for a sad collection of true stories that fall into the vein of David versus Goliath – many of the testimonials end with mind-boggling conclusions. Word of caution – try not having a yeast infection because it may prevent for getting life-saving surgery. After finding the cases, Moore ventures into the causes for the faulty system and surprise details reveal that doctors are actually agents of death. One of Moore’s tactics is to use generalizations; though he never employs untruths it is the small percentage that justify his claims and pump the shock value. It works beautifully.
Like in Bowling for Columbine, Moore then takes field trips outside his country of birth, this time not only North to Canada but across the Atlantic into places like France and Great Britain. His points are hammered home by asking the lowest common denominators of possible questions – but the answers are infuriatingly tragic in many regards. If these countries work with free public health care systems then why can’t it be a reality in his beloved homeland? What he finds out is that while U.S doctors make money by avoiding costly surgeries, U.K doctors make money for making people quit smoking.
His films cost money – music rights to the Star Wars theme, boat trips down in the tropics and generous anonymous checks made out to Moore-haters. Moore’s style is simplified narration, dumbed-down interviews, splicing tons of embarrassing public – chain of events that lead us to our predicament today – Americans have it bad while other Western countries seem to value a person’s rights.
The final b-slap is the much talked about trip down south where he loads up a boat with a bunch of good Americans who’ve helped in the post 9/11 mess. While many point to his docu-techniques, Moore’s bag of tricks of where he will set his anchor and doc his boat this is one reality you can’t skew. All this successfully contributes to Moore’s comedy and nauseam. Whether it is the subject matter at hand or his style, it’s a formula that works and gets the debate started.
May 20th, 2007- Cannes’ Non Competition Section
