Sicko - Review

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Length: 113 min

Rated: PG-13

Distributor: The Weinstein Company

Release Date: 2007-06-22

Starring: Michael Moore

Directed by Michael Moore

Produced by Kathleen Glynn

Visit the movie's Official Site!

Reviewed by Josh Tyler : 2007-06-20 01:58:27

Sicko is a return to ‘TV Nation’/Roger and Me era Michael Moore, when he was a rabble rouser who used to stand up for the little guy and tackled big issues with humor and wit instead of overbearing doom and gloom voice-overs, end of the world music, and other manipulative movie magic. Maybe he learned his lesson after the divisive reactions to Fahrenheit 9/11, or maybe this material simply lends itself more to an evenhanded style. Whatever the reason, for Sicko Moore keeps the dirty tricks to a minimum and instead states his case for desperately needed healthcare reform by making his movie about me and about you. Unlike his previous films this is not a movie of anger and outrage as much as it is disappointment and dismay, in which Moore serves as your escort through the story of a system gone bad and a nation mired in self-imposed suffering.

Sicko is not a movie about the 50 million Americans walking around without health insurance. Sicko is a movie about the other 250 million of us who have insurance, but are just as well and truly screwed. It’s also about freedom, real freedom, not the empty kind that gets thrown around as a buzzword; the freedom to live your life with the certainty that forces beyond your control won’t take away everything you have and everything you are. We don’t have that kind of freedom here in America, and Moore’s film makes that point by simply talking to real people. They’re your neighbors, your friends, your parents, some of them are even 9/11 heroes. Moore uses his camera to let them tell their stories of insurance company mistreatment and in the process paints a complete picture of a corrupt and fatally flawed system which isn’t just killing people but taking away their dignity and their liberty.

At first, he isn’t telling us anything we don’t already know. Anyone who’s spent any time dealing with insurance companies knows what a mess it is. You pay your premiums and then when you actually need them they go out of their way not to help you. They’re in the business of finding reasons not to spend money, and everyone knows it. What you may not know is just how far they’ll go. Having insurance doesn’t mean you’re protected, and the film covers both ends of the spectrum from people left to die because insurance companies refuse treatment, to people dropped from policies for bogus reasons, to an elderly couple driven to bankruptcy and made homeless by high deductibles. The film leaves no room for anyone to think it won’t happen to them. It will. It happens to everyone, just in varying degrees. When you walk out of Sicko, you’ll do it with the absolute certainty that if you ever encounter serious health trouble, you’re screwed.

Moore doesn’t stop with exposing how badly our health system is broken. Everyone knows it’s broken. The point of the film is that it doesn’t have to be that way. He takes it the next step further by exploring how to fix it, and he does that by going to other countries that have solved the problem. Again, he avoids getting lost in political agenda pushing and instead takes to the street and simply talks to real people in other places where healthcare is free, to anyone and everyone. In doing so, he systematically tears down every myth we’ve ever been fed about government run universal healthcare and leaves you with the question: why the hell aren’t we doing this?

Amidst all the facts and anecdotes Sicko manages to tell the engaging, moving, and sometimes hilarious story of a country and a people in crisis. The reason it works so well is that first and foremost it’s about you. It’s impossible not to relate to, since it’s a movie about the common fears we all face. Sicko is being billed as Michael Moore’s expose of the healthcare industry, but in a much broader sense it’s the story of how we as a people have lost control over our own way of life. It isn’t an unbiased documentary, it’s more of a two-hour positioning statement, but it states its point of view in a straightforward and honest way while still cutting right to the emotional core of the problem.

Moore can’t completely contain himself, and the film does occasionally slip into the shifty manipulation that’s been the hallmark of his other, more recent work. The difference here is that when it does so, more often than not it’s played for wry comedic effect, rather than subtle fear-mongering. The stories the film tells will move you, the truth it uncovers will piss you off. In between the laughter and the tears, it’s an intensely effective, gut-wrenching experience and one of the best movies of any kind you’ll see this year. More than that, Sicko is a desperately important film, one which is less concerned with telling you who to vote for than it is with simply getting you to wake up, see through the bullshit, and step out of line.

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pat Says:
June 20th, 2007 at 17:24
Better than Borat.

Moore has become a pop cult hero for his zany productions with an attitude and perspective second to none.

Real art, real artwork; always entertaining!

Rob Jenkins Says:
June 26th, 2007 at 16:49
I Want to see it but there is NO FKN theatres that is playing it around here! Where do we find a theatre listing?

Swedish Says:
June 26th, 2007 at 20:47
This is a very moving picture. If Fahrenheit 9/11 infuriated non-americans, then this is the movie that makes us feel with you. This is a movie that makes you want to cry, but more importantly - want you to give a helping hand.

the exile Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 03:56
One quick question: after all the criticism of Fahrenheit 911, can anyone actually point to a single thing Moore said in the movie that was PROVEN not to be true? Republican paid operatives trashed it by lying about the facts, because that's what they're paid to do. Republican true believers chose to believe the lies they were told. Many cowardly "liberals" in the media also trashed Moore because they, too, refused to believe what was in front of their eyes. But now with hindsight, I repeat the question: has F911 been proven factually wrong in any significant way?

Jim Mooney Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 22:27
There are a lot of rotten theaters that aren't showing it, probably at the behest of insurance companies that threaten to cancel their coverage. Insurers are richer than God, bribe Both parties (which are only offering to throw more money at insurers as a solution) and control everything.

The thing to do is call up the theater manager and yell like hell. Then, write their corporate office. They show enough rotten trash in movies. They ought to show something good for a change.

Robert Nagle Says:
July 7th, 2007 at 06:57
the exile:

You are right about Moore's facts not being disputed in 9/11. He and his fact checkers did a great job overall.

But that is missing the point. In a film, you can selectively present facts to support your position. The question boils down to: was his selective presentation fair? What evidence could have been presented to undermine his points?

(I'm a big fan of Moore in general, but in Farenheit I saw places where he was simplifying (or mocking) decisions or policies for cinematic effect. (It may be because I'm a news junkie and already knew a lot of the things he was talking about).

Still, I was a big fan..

jesse Says:
July 10th, 2007 at 01:22
the exile:
Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_9/11_controversy to begin with.

Some of it is overrated, but a couple of points are valid criticisms (inadequate interviewing of bin Laden's relatives, Unocal's involvement in Afghanistan, and cuts to soldier's pay, for example).

C. Mesquita Says:
July 15th, 2007 at 19:50
I have seen this movie. It is a wake up call for thinking people of this beautiful country. If this country believes in Democary, the people of this country should have the right to meet their healthcare needs without fear and tension. Insurance companies, HMOs and Politicians should keep aside thier selfish motives of making money at the cost of people's health and even life. I work for health care and I see people everyday, going through such painful and stressful moments to meet their healthcare needs. It is an ungent need do something. Let us not just laugh, cry and get mad, but do something to save the healthcare of this powerful country.

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