Review: FahrenHYPE 9/11

FahrenHYPE 9/11 is Dick Morris' response to Michael Moore's pseudo-documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Morris, he managed Bill Clinton's successful bid for the Presidency in 1996, and has been a close associate of the Clintons for over 20 years. He has a long history as a (successful) political consultant and most recently writes a column for the New York Post and appears regularly on FOX news as a commentator.

In contrast to the over the top style of Fahrenheit 9/11, with it's splashy graphics, animation, and sarcastic voiceover, FahrenHYPE 9/11 is much more of a traditional (read: dry) documentary. It won't win points for production values, fancy direction or musical score, but it does state facts... which last time I checked is what a documentary is supposed to do.

There are interviews with a number of people who have done extensive research both on the items brought up in Moore's film as well as on the Iraq situation (before and after the war) and terrorism in general. Liberals will no doubt want to toss out anything said by Ann Coulter, but among other interviewees are the likes of Ed Koch, former mayor of NYC, and on the non-expert side are people who were highlighted in Moore's film... without their permission.

The thrust of the film is to refute a number of the claims presented in Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 with facts that have not been spun and stretched to the limit. The movie opens with a humourous snippet of Michael Moore on stage somewhere stating: "Yes, there have been terrorist attacks and there will be more, but that does not mean there is a terrorist threat."

I have to say I had more than a giggle over that bit of reasoning.

Overall I thought the film spent a bit too much time covering the events of that fateful day, and should instead have gotten to it's main premise a bit faster. Also the film seemed a bit rushed, I think it could have used more material and a bit of tightening up (although it clocks in at a quick 75 minutes). Also the use of real authorities carries more weight than commentators like Ann Coulter, especially if one is trying to convince the other side.

FahrenHYPE 9/11 interviews the teacher who was present at the photo-op when the second jet hit the Twin Towers. She made clear that she thought that the President's reaction was proper... that since he was not reading the children's book but was listening to the children read it gave him time to collect his thoughts. There were brief interviews with others who were at the scene that stated that one of his aides informed the President off-camera not to say anything. After the fact it was pointed out that jumping up and leaving the room immediately would have accomplished nothing, and may have contributed to the American public panicking. It was also pointed out that the President remained in the room 5 minutes after being told, and not the purported 7 minutes.

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