Long-awaited release for Moore's comic documentary which chronicles life in Flint, Michigan. Thirty-five thousand jobs were lost when General Motors closed the local factory and turned the thriving community into a ghost town. Moore pursues the Roger Smith, chairman of GM, and tries to get some answers.
Roger & Me, the documentary that introduced the world to the Michael Moore’s abrasive style, shows the devastation wrecked in Flint, Michigan, when General Motors clos... more >
Roger & Me, the documentary that introduced the world to the Michael Moore’s abrasive style, shows the devastation wrecked in Flint, Michigan, when General Motors closed down all of its factories, causing massive unemployment and poverty in the previously affluent city. Flint is Moore’s hometown, and he aims to convince Roger B. Smith, chairman of General Motors, to visit the damage his actions have done.
It is disquieting to see this level of destitution in modern America – some of the images here recall depression-era films such as The Grapes Of Wrath, rather than the affluent society often associated with the 1980s. Some of the scenes are disturbing, such as the woman who culls and skins a pet rabbit for food, and the numerous evictions of families, yet Moore’s gallows humour and witty narration make this an entertaining polemic on the unjustness of America’s wealth distribution.
It is interesting to note how little Moore’s style has changed over the years – his arguments here are as passionate as anything in Bowling For Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11, and are generally better presented than in the later documentaries, where misleading images tended to hamper the debate. Moore regards Roger & Me as a failure, as no financial investment or development in Flint occurred after its release, but as a piece of angry, heartfelt propaganda, the film is a resounding success.
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