melinda2001

Perhaps it was just Netflix's fault for describing this as an exposé by an undercover liberal reporter who embedded himself in the Tea Party movement. Sounds good, but there was only a single brief scene where the narrator gets up in a Tea Party meeting and urges them on, draws a few cheers, and then sheepishly sits back down. That's it as far as any subterfuge goes and I found that to be extremely disappointing. That aside, it was really little more than footage of unattractive loons waving signs opposed to big government. There were a few details on the Koch brothers that I did not know about, and some silly time-lines and charts full of names of nefarious people and organizations connected by a web of arrows shown many times, I'm guessing because it was too much work to create additional visual aids. All in all it was quite disappointing and I can not recommend it. You will be better served by any Michael Moore movie.

It is really hard for me to judge this movie because it is politically charged, historically educational, and a rather scattered collection of lewd and extreme segments, all at once. The first two thirds were excellent and I laughed really hard and often. Much of what Farrel says about G.W. is both shocking and true, so there is some really valuable recent history delivered in a very entertaining way. No small feat. Some of the information was even shocking to learn and I had to look it up and always found that he was correct. I haven't looked up everything but I would bet that nearly everything he says that wasn't obviously a joke is completely true. The movie is very valuable for anyone who doesn't know much about G.W. or misremembers or just plain forgot.

Even though the first two thirds has some really hilarious parts, it is shot through with some serious material which I did not mind. The performance takes an abrupt and very serious turn for the final third. I was OK with that too but was sad that most of the laughs were gone. Still, I thought the latter material dragged on far too long. So if you don't watch the whole thing that is perfectly OK. Just know that the wrap-up and interaction with the audience at the end is precious.

You will either love this movie or love to hate it, so either way you win!