From the LAT's famed film critic --
MOVIE REVIEW
'Fahrenheit 9/11'
Michael Moore's partisan yet provocative film commands attention.
By Kenneth Turan, Times Staff Writer
He didn't call it "J'Accuse!" but he might as well have.
Like Emile Zola, whose celebrated 19th century open letter assailed the French government for being a party to intolerable injustice, Michael Moore in "Fahrenheit 9/11" has launched an unapologetic attack, both savage and savvy, on an administration he feels has betrayed the best of America and done extensive damage in the world.
Unabashedly partisan, wearing its determination to bring about political change on its sleeve, "Fahrenheit" can be nitpicked and second-guessed, but it can't be ignored. Set to open today in New York and Friday in Los Angeles and across the country, this landmark in American political filmmaking demands to be seen.
It's a tribute to how seriously Moore takes his secular crusade that he's largely abandoned his usual haphazard style in favor of a more focused, more concentrated mode of attack. With expertly deployed footage and a take-no-prisoners attitude that echoes that of his conservative betes noir, Moore has made an overwhelming film. It is propaganda, no doubt about it, but propaganda is most effective when it has elements of truth, and too much here is taken from the record not to have a devastating effect on viewers....
***
Now, seething with a controlled fury, Moore is angrier than ever; like Peter Finch's anchorman in "Network," he's fed up and not about to take it anymore. As outraged about Sept. 11 as any neo-con, he's livid about what's been done in its name. And he gives no one, least of all President Bush, the slightest benefit of the doubt....
(And there's this great line: "What anger Moore has left over after savaging the administration is directed at the mainstream media for being too in thrall with the official line -- 'Navy SEALs rock!' exults 'Today's' Katie Couric in one clip." And this: "Perhaps the most disturbing of all is footage showing the president on the morning of Sept. 11, continuing with a photo op involving a Florida elementary school class reading 'My Pet Goat' for nearly seven minutes after having been told that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center. It's an unflattering picture of irresolution and even paralysis, one that informs Moore's thesis — of a president in over his head — and pervades the entire film.")
http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-et-turan23jun23,0,4515683.story
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