I saw this film at a second-run theatre not long after its initial release. And not being a fan of documentaries, I must say I was incredibly impressed, informed and even. (gasp!).entertained. Prior to this film, when I heard the word documentary, I usually conjured up images from Mutual of Omaha African landscapes and another scene of animals either mating or killing.
My mother has always touted the merits of stories based on true events, and of course documentaries being 100% true, she finally found a film that she could whole-heartedly embrace and recommend to her son who at the time, preferred films of a more fantastic and less plausible nature.
Michael Moore, the "Me" in "Roger And Me" has a dry wit that can leave you rolling in the aisles with his dumbfounded disbelief in the face of human absurdity that he encounters almost everywhere he goes on his hunt for "Roger" Smith, the CEO of General Motors. Michael just wants to talk with Roger and ask him to visit Flint, Michigan, Michael's hometown, to see the effect that closing down all the automotive plants in Flint has had on the people who live there. That effect being at times incredibly depressing and at others, quite amusing. The most amusing moments coming from Roger Smith's repeated, successful but narrow evasion from the confrontational Michael Moore.
Is Michael Moore entirely unbiased? Hell, no. But he is intelligent, engaging and inherently humourous in his views and I'm glad there's someone like him out there. If after this film, you feel you need more, than all you must do is prime yourself with his book, "Downsize This" and follow it up with the simple yet powerful documentary, "The Big One". Michael Moore is also the man behind the short lived "TV Nation" which ran for two years on two different networks in the early 90s, and proved to be some of the most intelligent, thought-provoking material that ever hit the idiot box. There are tapes available of the show, which I own, and sadly cannot recommend due to the low technical recording quality, which doesn't do the fantastic content justice.
My mother has always touted the merits of stories based on true events, and of course documentaries being 100% true, she finally found a film that she could whole-heartedly embrace and recommend to her son who at the time, preferred films of a more fantastic and less plausible nature.
Michael Moore, the "Me" in "Roger And Me" has a dry wit that can leave you rolling in the aisles with his dumbfounded disbelief in the face of human absurdity that he encounters almost everywhere he goes on his hunt for "Roger" Smith, the CEO of General Motors. Michael just wants to talk with Roger and ask him to visit Flint, Michigan, Michael's hometown, to see the effect that closing down all the automotive plants in Flint has had on the people who live there. That effect being at times incredibly depressing and at others, quite amusing. The most amusing moments coming from Roger Smith's repeated, successful but narrow evasion from the confrontational Michael Moore.
Is Michael Moore entirely unbiased? Hell, no. But he is intelligent, engaging and inherently humourous in his views and I'm glad there's someone like him out there. If after this film, you feel you need more, than all you must do is prime yourself with his book, "Downsize This" and follow it up with the simple yet powerful documentary, "The Big One". Michael Moore is also the man behind the short lived "TV Nation" which ran for two years on two different networks in the early 90s, and proved to be some of the most intelligent, thought-provoking material that ever hit the idiot box. There are tapes available of the show, which I own, and sadly cannot recommend due to the low technical recording quality, which doesn't do the fantastic content justice.