Review of Bowling for Columbine (2002) by Ian A — 28 Mar 2012

I haven't ever seen any of Michael Moore's films, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. In the end, I thought it was an interesting film with a lot of interesting things to say, but several moments where I felt like it just kind of meandered around.

I thought all the things he was pointing out about the fear-ridden culture of America is exactly correct, and that was a fascinating point... but then there were so many moments where I was clear on neither his point nor even what facts he wanted to bring to light.

I appreciate the questions he was asking and I think he found some good possible answers, but the film kind of jumps from theory to story to illustration of a previous theory to personal anecdote to clips of the other side acting crazy, without as much tying them together as I would have liked.

It was a clash of tones - jumping from topic to topic made it *seem* like an exploratory documentary, but then the message he was trying to send came through so clearly that all the jumping around and asking, "What about this? What about this?" kind of just felt like quasi-ADD interjections.

Interesting, but I have a feeling his other films won't sit with me much better.