Roger & Me

No matter how self-centered beast Michael Moore may be, no matter how he may be criticized for being biased and manipulating information, it is necessary to give him credit for trying to show the truth that exists here, to expose the ugliness of capitalism, and the overall pretentiousness of this society - not only American - which lives in disguise and considers it the norm. (11.02.2016)

Michael definitely shot himself in his debut, honing his unique sarcastic style. If there is such a thing as a feature documentary, then Moore creates something like a documentary game. The seeds of his irresistible demagoguery can be seen in the choice of types of people for the interviews... this is especially an unreal sample of human debility and hypocrisy, on which the creator literally grazes and which he incites. He is great at playing with the viewer's sympathies, but Roger & Me contains only a few places where all the cynicism goes smoothly, without awkwardness, and hitting fully. Moore names the paradox best at the end. Nevertheless, all the while the unhappy portrait of Michael's "hometown", crushed by the iron logic of capitalism, makes one feel chills, and the occasional dislocation and painstaking extraction of lightness from the stream of narration change nothing. This is where Moore's inexperience manifests itself, which, however, does not result in any embarrassment, but rather in sincerity... The honesty that was missing in Fahrenheit 11/9, for example... Roger & Me is a rather rough documentary, but precisely because of the fact that the creator defends his city and his people, this cheeky accusation against capital feels very fervent and urgent. There is thus no need for intrusive pathetic gestures, which personally bother me a lot about the later Moore films. When one loses a job, it's a tragedy. When 30,000 people lose their jobs, it's a statistic. Ideologies are changing, paradoxes remain? (18.09.2006)

Basically, this is like the demo for Bowling for Columbine. That's where Moore perfects his demagogically confrontational style. (18.09.2006)