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An MGM release. Written and directed by Michael Moore. Released to DVD on August 16, 2003. 
Writer/director Michael Moore’s film Bowling for Columbine is one of those extremely rare films that has the power to change the viewpoint of millions of Americans in one grand swoop. Moore’s film comes so close to achieving this goal in a humorous and informed manner, that it actually heightens the project’s one or two missteps. It’s probably not fair that I judge this societally-worthy project with harsher standards than I do a lowest-common-denominator film like Bad Boys II, but such are the breaks of greatness. An op/ed documentary, Bowling for Columbine is Moore’s examination of violence (specifically gun violence) in America. Starting with a bank in Michigan that offers free rifles to people who open checking accounts, Moore tangentially weaves his way through American (and Canadian) culture, tackling the absurd rhetoric spun by gun makers and the NRA, visiting south central Los Angeles, even managing to include an astonishingly funny animated history of white people in North America since the 1500’s. Over the course of the last fifteen years, Moore has managed to carve out a rather lucrative job for himself promoting positive changes in our society. A professional thorn in the side of corporate America, Moore is one of the most deft documentarians (though I use the term loosely) out there, smoothly and easily delivering poignant ideological statements with humor. And he does not disappoint in this regard in Bowling for Columbine. Interviewing a wide range of persons from Matt Stone (co-creator of South Park) to Charlton Heston (president of the NRA), Moore relishes the opportunity to ask the tough questions and seems to have a great time doing so. The only downside to this film comes with Moore’s overeagerness to tilt the perception in his favor. The facts are so blatant, the metaphors so obvious, it doesn’t seem as if any hyping of the material is necessary. Nonetheless, there were times where this was the case. The most glaring example of this comes when Moore is working to debunk the myth that Canada has a much lower murder rate than the United States because Canada has less black people than the US. To do so, Moore arrives in Canada and films several black people walking around the streets; apparently there are black people in Canada too. Some minutes later, Moore interviews the black people in Canada only to learn that they are merely visiting Americans. Honestly funny, very well researched and edited, Bowling for Columbine is incredibly deserving of the Oscar it won. Moore’s passion for the movie shows through at every possible opportunity as he has infused this film with devotion and an honest desire to make America a better place. It’s just a shame that two or three shortcuts were taken to add even more power to the final product. This is a fantastic documentary that misses absolute perfection by a hair.
chris neumer yes, it's true: Bowling goes back some 7,000 years. Archaeologists have found rudimentary bowling balls and pins inside Egyptian pyramids. |
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