The Big Fix

Dan Rather asked filmmaker Josh Tickell why documentaries are so popular in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival. The answer is that the media is letting us down. While Fox, MSNBC, and everyone in between have forgotten about the BP spill, the oil continues to leak, and Corexit continues to be sprayed, pumped and dumped into the waters of the Gulf. Americans are demanding that offshore oil permits be renewed to create jobs, while thousands of fishing jobs are being snuffed out by the worst spill in history, followed by the worst solution in history.

Josh and Rebecca Tickell interview the locals who are most directly affected by the spill, and sneak behind the scenes to catch the criminals in the act. This film should put its creators on stage at the 2012 Oscars.

First off, how is it that the rating is only 3.4 stars when the majority of votes have been 9-10? Someone isn't doing math correctly...

But regardless, this film doesn't need to be rated. Because it's not about the awesome creative camera angles used, or the emotion-inducing tracklist, or the rawness exposed from start to finish. It's about getting information out to the public...and since the message was conveyed so clearly and chronologically, I think it served its purpose. It was also all of those other things mentioned. So I definitely give it a 10/10. In all seriousness, you need to watch this video.

This is one awesome and important film. If you are concerned about the state of our planet and the future of our democracy then this film should be on your bucket list... Don't wait till your bucket is empty to see Josh and Rebecca Tickell expose this tragic man made disaster and cover up... Josh and Rebecca Tickell along with Peter Fonda take us with them on their journey to the Gulf of Mexico for a first hand view the devastation of the BP Oil spill and the whitewashing of the facts... This film is so timely to the events unfolding in America today that is very important that this film get the distribution it deserves, go see it and recommend it to all your friends and family.

Saw the movie last night and it was excellent. Provocative, well research, emotional and powerful. It is really shocking to see the level of deceit and corruption still going on in the gulf. We got to invest in alternative energies and let go of our destructive addiction to oil.

Even though I consider myself generally well informed, I was shocked to see pieces of information that have been kept secret to the public at large. And the film provides irrefutable proof. Sometimes the truth hurts. We got to face the truth otherwise the alternative will be even more disastrous.

When I viewed the synopsis of this film in my Netflix queue I was pleased to see that someone was looking at the events surrounding the man-made and totally preventable Deepwater Horizon oil rig tragedy perpetrated by BP in 2009 in the Gulf of Mexico. My anticipation was short-lived when I saw that the director of the film was Joshua Tickell. I was not a fan of Mr. Tickell's previous energy-centric film, Fuel. But, rather than rehash that mess, I suggest you read my review here on IMDb. If you sort the reviews by 'Hated It' you'll find it.

Overall, I am impressed with Mr. Tickell's effort with The Big Fix. It tells several stories. First and foremost, the lengths corporations will go to in order to maximize profit and minimize exposure when things go terribly wrong. The destruction of the Deepwater Horizon was avoidable yet BP broke numerous safety rules which allowed it to happen and then lied about everything related to the cleanup; that, to this day, is not complete. Tickell does an excellent job in laying out the case against BP and what they did to the entire region.

The film also tells a powerful story that we are hearing all too frequently about the connection between politics and big oil. The influence of lobbyists and the revolving door between high office and lobbying is a story that should be told often.

Mr. Tickell strays in a few areas. Minor but mildly irritating is in his completely unnecessary time-killing narrative on Huey Long. It was pointless and didn't fit in at the beginning of the film. If he wanted to contrast Governor Long to Governor Jindal or any other Louisiana politician he opened that possibility up when he spoke of the true interests and ownership of modern day Louisiana politicians. But rhetoric about how Long was such a great guy wrapped around stories of Louisiana being treated like a colony just didn't fit.

Also, Mr. Trickell seemed pained to lump President Obama in with the collection of corrupt soulless individuals running the country today. He points out, correctly, all of the oil money received by various politicians, how evil the Koch brothers are and all the other Liberal talking points we have grown to expect. But, when it came to Obama he seemed to want to make Obama out to be a sympathetic character. As if Obama is trying to change the world but all these forces have plotted against him. No mention of the money Obama received from big oil and BP in particular. This could be because Mr. Tickell feels compelled to include Hollywood in his films and the brief appearance of Peter Fonda and Amy Smart satisfied that requirement in this film. Hollywood is still unable to speak with one voice against this President and at least from his films, Mr. Trickell is going along with the sentiment of that crowd.

Mr. Tickell is getting better as a story teller. He can be faulted for his political bias but it stayed mostly in check in this film; unlike "Fuel" which was painful to get past. In "The Big Fix," he picked an outstanding subject that more people need to be aware of. He does an excellent job imparting his perspective of the region. I recommend it and even with the few blemishes noted above, it is worth seeing a couple times.