7/14/2004
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In his weekly chat, Gene Weingarten gives a very good analysis of Fahrenheit 911, and it's one that I largely agree with.
This movie, despite its marketing claims, is not a "documentary." A documentary strives for some sort of balance, and this strives for no balance whatsoever. And it is only when you jettison that misleading label that you can appreciate it for what it is.
Michael Moore is an immature jerk, and the movie reflects that. He is also a wild-eyed partisan, an unapologetic polemicist, and a willing distorter of facts, and the movie reflects all that. He is also a funny guy, and the movie reflects that. Watching it is like watching a very articulate, screamingly funny street lunatic rail from a soapbox in front of the White House. You don't believe everything he says, but you ain't going nowhere until he is finished, and sometimes you walk away thinking you picked up something of value.
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However, what is left when you trashcan all the silliness is a movie that is extremely entertaining -- heart-wrenching in parts, and really funny in parts. It's a major emotional whipsaw, and it works...
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