Ah, Michael Moore - the big loveable lug from Michigan and the anti-American-establishment hero. The man who is beloved by the left everywhere for exposing “the truth” about the state of the United States is the subject of Shooting Michael Moore, a film that endeavours to seek out the ‘untruths’ Michael Moore has used in his pursuit of fame and fortune.
Kevin Leffler is a former classmate of Mike’s in Michigan. He is now a college professor and the director and presenter of this piece. Leffler shows us, via a ‘Michael Moore’ style documentary, that Moore’s pursuit of his own fame and fortune has made him a hypocrite. With a great deal of humour, he shows how all of Moore’s promises to his ‘fellow’ townsmen are just rhetoric as he has never fulfilled any of them.
In one part of the documentary, Leffler revisits Moore’s gonzo journalism approach and goes to his luxury apartment building in New York to get an interview. He is rebuffed by the doorman and never manages to ask Moore about some of the various inconsistencies in his documentary films - whether it is that Michael Moore is not actually from Flint (he is from Davidson, 10 miles away) or that he never had a production company in Flint or Davidson.
On numerous occasions, Moore promised to move his production company, Dog Eat Dog, to help the ‘unemployed’ people. Leffler left New York empty handed and without any answers to his numerous questions.
Rather than just making it a chase film, the director included interviews with some of Moore’s ‘stars’ - some voluntary or, in the case of several military men, involuntary. He chats with those in Moore’s films who felt they were less than accurately portrayed or rather edited in the final cut.
There is some pretty heart-wrenching stuff with the family of one of the guys who was in the film and consequently died serving his country. There is anger from a soldier who lost his arms and who was used out of context in a Moore film. There are also ex-employees of Moore’s who tell tales of being paid the minimum wage, being sacked just prior to Christmas, and Moore’s complete disregard for government rules and regulations. There is a section dedicated to Moore claiming primary residence in both Davidson and New York to reduce his tax bill, which is illegal.
Article comments
1 - Chief Hypocrite
Shooting Michael Moore, by Kevin Leffler, has been updated since the release of Sicko and is now an even better film. It is showing this week, Oct 24 through Oct 30, 2008 at the AMC theater in the Mall of America in Miami, Florida.
2 - Tom H
There is some pretty heart-wrenching stuff with the family of one of the guys who was in the film and consequently died serving his country.
Moore's fault, obviously.
There is anger from a soldier who lost his arms and who was used out of context in a Moore film.
No, he was not. As ruled by the judge who threw this ridiculous soldier's claim out. Please stop telling lies.
I found it [the film] a thoroughly enjoyable skewering of a hypocritical, dishonest demagogue of the first order who delights in lying to make his country and its people look as bad as humanly possible abroad
This one film has more inaccuracies than a five-minute Fox News broadcast. Simply not serious.
3 - Jordan Richardson
America and Americans have looked pretty bad abroad looooooooooong before Moore ever sidled up to the bar.