Michael Moore gets a bit better with each film. Fahrenheit 9/11 continues his series of quirky political documentaries in a very timely fashion. It’s funny, moving and serious. It was also a little bit annoying at times, but overall I think that it’s a better film than Bowling for Columbine. Moore is less present in this film, which is good as the construction of the film is a bit better without someone needing to stand in for us. I can see Moore moving into the background within his films as he’s starting to become a distraction as you can’t really be a completely ordinary guy after winning an Academy Award and the Palme d’Or. What’s great about Fahrenheit 9/11 is that it solidly captures the spirit of Moore’s TV shows (TV Nation and The Awful Truth) in the blend of the timely, the political and the irreverent and captures a good chunk of the zeitgeist of the time. It’s a difficult balance with only a few exploitative parts. Political documentaries are tough as most of the time you’re either preaching to the converted or upsetting those who don’t share your view. Moore injects enough humour to carry things along without letting things get too serious, but the film definitely has a point of view and it’s a call to not reelect Mr. Bush in the upcoming U.S. election and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. As a documentarian, it’s encouraging to see a documentary doing so well at the box office (even though the competition was a bit weak) and it will be interesting to see how it holds up against Spider-Man 2.
