THE BIG ONE (1997)
A Film Review by Ted Prigge
Copyright 1999 Ted Prigge
Writer/Director: Michael Moore
Starring: Michael Moore, Phil Knight, Rick Nelson, Garrison Keillor, Studs Terkel
No, I haven't seen "Roger and Me" (and let's just forget "Candian Bacon" doesn't exist, eh?) but I do know a few things about Michael Moore, as I did happen to watch a couple minutes of his short-lived summer-replacement TV show "TV Nation" back in the day (and managed to glance over "Downsize This" in a bookstore once). He's a liberal with a whole lot of money and a loyal film crew, both which he uses to shake up the "system" in an attempt to get the point across about the downtrodden workers, which let me assure you there are in abundance (I'm one of them, though not of the I'm-not-getting-benefits kind, but of the lazy kind, not that benefits don't bother me). Physically he looks like a poor man's Roger Ebert, an oafish man with a big grin perpetually plastered on his face, not revealing his immense intelligence and making him easily approachable. He also has an incredible sense of humor, and that's his best weapon because otherwise no one would take him seriously (you've seen the typical angry demonstrators, and face it, you're as annoyed as I am). His other chief weapon is the camera, which he uses to embarass the hell out of those in control of workers' jobs, and who have no better explanation about mass lay-offs in profitable corporations than that someone's greedy. Oh, and he made a film called "Roger and Me," which, again, I haven't seen yet, but as I hear, it's about him going around with the camera in a northern town, trying to interview the CEO of a company that laid off millions of workers at the time.
It's been about a decade since that film hit, and a good thing and a bad thing have happened to Mr. Moore: a) he's not lost his sense of humor, but b) he's lost his focus...well, sorta. "The Big One" follows him on his book tour for "Downsize This," which he describes as the book he wrote just so people would still know he was alive (and thus the film), and the result is an episodic trip around the America, meeting book dates, giving interviews, holding auditorium-sized discussions, and, of course, meeting with either potential or actual unions. So every ten minutes, we get to see Moore and his crew talk with a union, and then do the noble thing of attempting to help them out, with means he tries to go right up and see the big cheese, at which point he's either giving a bunch of bullshit from the underlings or told by security to leave the premises (or at one point, lied that he'll get an interview with the president of a company).
And it's all great, priceless material because Moore is such a witty and down-to-earth guy, not merely a typical guilty-liberal, but a man who has the knowledge of how the system works, the funds to do what he can for them, and the showmanship to attract real attention. He's not afraid to humiliate people to get something proven (and many of the instances are totally worth the price of admission), even if nothing concrete actually happens until later. So basically, as I hear, nothing's changed...except for a little thing. Throughout the the film, there's a disturbing amount of self-gratification going on. More and more scenes of him in front of pleased crowds, a near-shameless scene where he gives hope and courage to a woman who lost her job the day she met him (and buying a 25 dollar hardcover book immeadiately after?), and a lot of reaction shots that show Moore listening like a great martyr. In fact, there's not much of a point of making this film. Other than showing that he's still hard at work, it also shows a side of Moore that takes pleasure in the way he helps people, and the entire film has creepy undertones of a big fat valentine directed at himself, albeit a subconcious one that I'm not sure he realized he was forming when he assembled the film together.
But it's so easy to merely brush that aside and ignore it so that you can just sit back and enjoy the way this film is made, which is more entertainment than social criticism. Moore's wit is heavily on display here, and even the aimlessness of the film's structure becomes appealing, because you just have no clue what he's going to do next. One minute, he could be signing books at Media Play; the next, jamming with Cheap Trick member Rick Nelson in his home right near by. It almost has the charm of an improv sketch, and Moore has such a great sense of fun and adventurism that "The Big One" comes off more like a really entertaining ride, even more entertaining if you buy into his philosophy (which I do, for the most part). And he concludes it with the one thing he couldn't provide in "Roger and Me": an actual filmed interview with a CEO. In a priceless bit of movie-dom, Moore sits down for two long tete-a-tetes with Nike CEO Phil Knight, accusing him of everything he can, humiliating him, yet still coming off as friendly and polite to him, and ditto with Knight. The entire last section of the film is easily the best, and even if maybe part of the charm of "Roger and Me" was that you didn't actually get to see any kind of cherished interview transpire (I'm only guessing here), it actually doesn't matter since the entire point of the film is that of entertainment. In fact, "The Big One" may actually be one of the funnier, more entertaining films of the year. But what was the point of Moore even making the film? Beats me. I guess it has something to do with him not selling out.
MY RATING (out of 4): ***
Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/8335/
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