Big One

Year: 1997

Grade: A+

Country: USA

Director: Moore

Review

probably my favorite michael moore film (it’s between this and roger & me). there are a lot of reasons why i like this one more than his others, some of them are lame and some aren’t. the lamest one is because this remains his least popular film and i like liking something that’s relatively unknown. it’s also his only film in which both chris smith (camera) and sarah price (sound) were involved, and i like them because of american movie. i also like it more than bfc and f 9/11 because this one is an unadulterated documentary. ultimately, though, this is my favorite moore film because it’s the most fun to watch. it’s his funniest, his most laid back, and it still packs the patented moore punch. at the end moore is talking with phil knight and trying to get him to come to singapore to see the young factory workers, but knight rejects his offer. later moore suggests a foot race – if knight wins moore will wear nikes wherever he goes – if moore wins then knight will build a shoe factory in flint; again knight declines the offer. moore goes on like this, pleading with knight for some change in his bottomline thinking, but knight doesn’t budge. it’s a microcosm of moore’s entire public life, and it’s exactly what is so heart wrenching about watching moore’s work. we know he’s the good guy, putting up the good fight, but it hardly ever seems to do any good. since roger & me (1989), for example, we’ve gotten another bush in the white house, thousands more flint residents have lost their jobs and the city is in worse shape than ever, the exportation of jobs nationally has increased, the rich are still getting richer and the working class are still footing the bill. a truly great documentary.