Michael Moore is making a key point with this movie that, judging from other people's reviews, seems easy to miss. The point isn't that the people of Flint expected GM to care for them "from cradle to grave," as one reviewer put it. The point was that the working people of Flint, despite doing everything they were supposed to do, despite keeping up their end of the bargain, were destroyed by a corporation that FELT NO OBLIGATION TO EVEN EXPLAIN WHY. That's the symbolism of the attempt to interview Roger Smith and Smith's unwillingness to answer questions.
In a corporation like GM, there is no one really accountable for what the corporation does at the end of the day. The stockholders hide behind the CEO. The CEO hides behind the board of directors. The directors cite "the stockholders' will." The PR men blame "market forces" (which is a code word for greed). The union bosses double talk. And in the end, they all dump squarely on the working stiff, who always comes last in the considerations of management.
This film is NOT supposed to be a documentary. It's the facts of the situation as seen by a kid who grew up in Flint among GM workers. He feels betrayed, he feels depressed and he feels angry. That's why the film is "manipulative." It's HIS opinion! And even if it IS his opinion, that doesn't excuse the disgusting behavior of all the rich cretins and politicians in this film. Didn't they KNOW that they were on camera?! As I watched, I wondered if America is really as full of snotty, middle-management punks as this film seems to show. And why do corporate androids get so rude when a camera is around? Are they really so terrified of someone exposing them for what they are? Sheesh!
By the way: when GM closed down the Flint plants from 1987-1989, they were making one BILLION dollars in profits per year. They took jobs from Americans and gave them to foreigners despite a nice profit margin. Isn't that treason?
A good film. A-.
Some things to watch for: Sleazy Jeri-Curl eviction man, one snotty PR person after another, Michael Moore's fashion sense, Ronald Reagan looking really dumb and confused, Bob Eubanks' sense of humor, Miss Michigan's off-the-cuff brilliance, rabbit meat.
