Capitalism: A Love Story

Michael Moore's latest feature, Capitalism: A Love Story, has everything I could want from one of his films: a hotly debated and relevant issue, information, personal accounts, funny clips, and great music. I enjoy seeing his films not so much to be informed, which I feel he does quite well, but to be entertained. That is something rare with a documentary. I don't think you can say the same about An Inconvenient Truth.

Love him or hate him, Moore makes a fantastic film. This time he takes one the recent economic turmoil this country has been facing for the past year or so. Moore traces it's roots back to the Reagan administration on up. He presents a lot of facts, memos, and documents some companies and banks would not like us to see, but he does it because the people have a right to know.

I can't say much about what went on because Moore presents a lot of data, but to the best of my ability I can say that there is an awful lot of shady activity going on behind closed doors. We look at the bail out plan proposed to congress. We see how companies like Goldman Sachs infiltrates the government and starts doing their own bidding. We see companies spend their money frivolously while workers and homeowners are losing their jobs and livelihood. Some of these banks and groups do terrible things that force people into uncomfortable and downright oppressive situations.

One thing I expected to see from this film was Moore perspective and nothing else. I don't know what information he is withholding and what truths he is stretching, but I am impressed with how convincing some of his arguments and testimonials are. He plays on our heartstrings like a trained musician, hitting home with issues involving blue collar Americans struggling to keep their jobs, their homes, and their families together.

Aside from the content of the film, the actual film itself is very well put together. He makes excellent use of stock footage from the 50s and 60s, weaving them perfectly to fit the film's flow. One thing Moore does better than most is his use of music to drive home a point or a feeling. Be it classical, rock, or country, Moore blends it all together quite nicely.

This film makes you think. It makes you angry. It makes you want to do something, and that's okay. That is what a film is supposed to do. It is designed to evoke some sort of emotion and help spring it forth. That's not to say you should go out and do something drastic, but it will at least make for excellent conversation amongst friends and coworkers.

Controversial documentarian Michael Moore has taken on some important news topics over the past two decades but perhaps none has affected every American more than the financial meltdown of Wall Street in 2008 as depicted in Capitalism: A Love Story. Done in his customary style of news clips, interviews, and enactments, he has fashioned a convincing indictment of greedy bank executives while being engaging and at times enlightening.

He points out a startling fact: We used to be one income family, Wall Street and corporate profits were guided by sound principles, and our country had no business competition. It's a kind of history lesson courtesy of Moore as he also notes parallels between the demise of Wall Street and that of the Roman Empire, a comparison not without merit. His thesis is that since President Ronald Reagan came into office, the influence of Wall Street has increased to the point that, while Congress and the U.S. Treasury have promoted financial deregulation, many of them have direct links to financial giants such as Goldman Sachs. It would seem on surface to be a major conflict of interest, and that is the point. A handful of CEO's have benefited from running the country as a corporation and costing millions of jobs and livelihoods.

Moore ties news stories to an increasing pattern of corporate greed. There is a juvenile facility in Pennsylvania financed by taxpayer money and corrupt public officials. There are college students beholden to banks with student loans, and we witness news reports of a recent plane crash in Buffalo, New York, for what appears to be the lack of funds for safety issues. Then there is the surprising practice of businesses like Wal-Mart that take out life insurance policies on its employees and collecting on the benefits. By contrast, he does show examples of companies owned by workers that operate efficiently and at a profit. His point is there can be win-win situations.

As Wall Street sold 'derivatives', a risky form of corporate gambling, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan suggested that Americans tap the equity in their homes, and thus came the refinance boom for banks and a new found wealth for the masses-or was it? Using a home like a bank was a formula for financial disaster as the housing industry collapsed with foreclosures and the banking industry fell too. Moore makes his point with footage of actual foreclosures as sheriffs evict homeowners, and the cruelty is not only losing a home but in the cottage industry that has taken advantage of this agonizing process. Added to this is the preferential treatment that CEO's gave to each other and many lawmakers regarding mortgage approvals. The question that keeps being asked by Moore and others is 'where were the regulators' in all this?

As Congress debated on how to repair the economy with a bailout of as much as $700 billion of taxpayer money, Wall Street used media abetted fear to manipulate lawmakers. It was a politics of fear. But not everyone was buying into the fear. Some members of Congress were brave enough to tell a sobering tale of a lack of oversight versus corporate bonuses being fed by the bailout.

Moore shows that some people are fighting back. A new President (Obama) ushers in the potential for change. People are fighting foreclosures and forcing banks to prove chain of title. The laid off workers at Republic Doors refused to exit the factory, and with media coverage and a supportive President, Bank of America caves in and agrees to pay the workers what is owed to them. This event is not without precedent as Moore points out in 1936, workers at a GM Flint, Michigan plant also fought back. In an ironic, fascinating piece of history of what might have been, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed but never lived to see a second Bill of Rights which would address virtually every important concern for Americans including health care, education, and financial security.

Then Moore makes this observation based on a private corporate memo that says 1% of the population in this country has 95% of the wealth but that the other 99% have an equal vote and the power to make changes (yet still hope to be part of the rich). It is this equal vote that scares the corporate powers. His conclusion is that the only hope for this country is for democracy to work.

Some things don't come off well in the film; Moore appears to be grandstanding when he rents an armored car to make a citizen's arrest of the CEOs of Wall Street and get back the public's money. He even takes crime scene tape to cordon off bank doors. Also, an interview with actor Wallace Shawn seems a bit out of place. Wouldn't an interview with an industry insider have worked better? You may not agree with everything Moore espouses, but some of the information should cause anyone to research the facts and draw their own conclusions. If you are a fan of his previous films Sicko or Fahrenheit 9/11, then you will appreciate Capitalism: A Love Story.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was very impressed with the combination of comedy, tragedy, and historical explanation. Yes, there is a bit (or more) of playing to the camera by Moore himself--however, I enjoyed the grandstanding--kind of an investigative revenge fantasy to physically call attention to one of the biggest crime scenes ever. While the use of 1950s instructional film segments is played for laughs, other historical footage is literally breath-taking. My NY audience was utterly silent when we saw what FDR wanted to do, and might have done, had he lived longer. MY REQUEST, at least for the DVD version, would be to have more labels on the lesser-known political figures, so we could more readily identify the few, brave souls who spoke out in vain. I plan to see it again.

Economics. Who in their right mind would try and make a feature length film about that subject? Michael Moore's previous work that included subjects about guns, General Motors, and George W. Bush, to the audience these were clear points for us to identify with, or in most cases, against.

In his new film, Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore attempts demystify what economics and capitalism really mean to the vast majority of Americans. This is no easy feat. I must admit the first quarter of the film had me doubting if he would secede. I am not going to sit by and say that people who took out adjustable rate mortgages and then were foreclosed are not at all to blame. They bear a good share of personal responsibility. But so do the lenders who were drooling to make a profit via the art of deception.

Soon afterwards we are presented with an example of capitalism gone awry. A judge in a US town was locking up juvenile offenders, for "crimes" such as throwing meat or criticizing a vice-principal online. The prison was a privately run corporation that was sending financial kickbacks to the very judge who was locking these kids up on absurd charges. Granted this was just one example, but a shocking one that could make you question just what are American values. This is where the film really started to get interesting. Are capitalism and Christianity compatible? What becomes of capitalism when you strip out regulation? Who actually controls the government of The United States of America, the top 1% or the bottom 95%? When the markets crashed last fall and the banks cried uncle, where was the oversight by our elected officials regarding the bailout funds?

These are questions, and some answers, that make Moore's documentary effective and engaging. While he is reflecting upon the past he is also asking us, what are we going to do about it in the future?

Reading some of the other reviews of Capitalism: A Love Story, it soon becomes clear that those leaving low scores either haven't seen the film or have a particular agenda to smear the movie - one reviewer seems to think Angela Merkel's Germany (a centre right politician!) is 'Socialist'! It is this deliberate dumbing down in America of issues surrounding what capitalism is and does (as opposed to socialism) that enabled the conditions for the banks to exploit the worst off in American society and force the taxpayers to foot the bill by bailing them out - and why Americans are still without a universal free healthcare system. Moore takes great pains, and succeeds, in highlighting how this culture of demonising anything that criticises rampant and unregulated free market economics has been firmly established in US society. He has clearly undertaken a measure of research in the production - numerous sources/interviews and facts are used in the narrative - but the best thing for me was that he still manages to keep the more complicated aspects of banking and loans extremely accessible (I'm hopeless at maths!).

Comments that Moore is a socialist are extremely juvenile - Moore is a socialist in the same way that Ghandi was a terrorist or Jesus was a trouble maker.

All in all a very informative and inspiring documentary that dares to mention the elephant taking a big dump in the room.