The Big One
We’re currently in the middle of the biggest drought without a Michael Moore film we’ve seen since the nine years from the time he made his 1989 landmark, “Roger & Me,” to the time he released “The Big One” in 1998. Hopefully, it won’t be much longer, and hopefully, it’ll be more satisfying than “The Big One” was.
Moore’s 1998 documentary, shot when he was on tour with his book, Downsize This!, has never really had the same energy of compassionate rage that’s really driven his best films– “Roger & Me,” “Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 9/11,” and “SiCKO” –over the years. It’s an enjoyable lark, and painful to watch as Moore encounters people everywhere he goes who are having tough times, who are victims of downsizing when corporations are making record profits, and yet, still closing plants and factories, and moving them overseas. It’s despicable business, and it still feels like it’s going on in some corporations in this country. And yet, Moore persists, preaching the gospel of social justice and worker’s rights, and even sees some good news by the end of his movie on that front.
If I seem less than enthusiastic about “The Big One,” it’s because the film feels like the conservative caricature of Moore as a grandstanding narcissist who really doesn’t care about the people he meets, and does what he does for publicity for himself. If you watch films like “Roger & Me” and “SiCKO,” especially, that couldn’t be further from the truth, but the stunts Moore tries to pull in “The Big One” with the novelty checks and guilty corporate bosses to keeping jobs in America wear a bit thin this time around. It’s an entertaining film as a whole, and very funny at times to see Moore pull some jokes, but the focus is too much on him, and not enough on the people he supports, and that’s why “The Big One” has never quite felt that way to me.
