Review of Bowling for Columbine (2002) by Fred V — 18 Aug 2011

This an amazing documentary, one of the best I've seen yet. It's funny, serious, and educational, all at the same time. Heck, you don't even know that you're learning while watching this, you just think you're watching a great documentary.

My favorite part was when Michael Moore got two people that were seriously injured in Columbine, and got K-Mart to stop selling bullets, yes, I'm dead serious. But, even though I really enjoyed this film, it had it's fair share of annoying flaws.

For example, Michael Moore seems a little, I don't know, rude? I mean, HE INSULTED CHARLTON HESTON IN FRONT OF HIS OWN FACE! Another flaw was it only focuses on the people who agree with Michael Moore, couldn't they get somebody with a different opinion? The last major flaw was it doesn't take itself seriously as much as you would expect.

I mean, one minute they're actually showing security footage from the high school incident, and the next they're showing a cartoon about "The History Of The USA". Doesn't always go hand in hand, doesn't it? But, even with those flaws, there's still more good things to talk about, like how the movie stay's lively even after talking about the bad stuff, and that Michael Moore's arguments are solid and still hold up today.

However, there's only one more thing I didn't like about this movie, it's not a flaw, but still annoying. OK, both of the incidents involve bowling, so you might think that's why they called it Bowling for Columbine, but only one of the incidents happen at a bowling alley, but the other, it was just what the perpetrator's did before going to the high school for the killing spree.

So, why did they call it Bowling for Columbine? Was it a play on words, one incident involved Bowling, and the other involved the school of Columbine? Who knows, I don't, so let's just get the rest out of the way.

Sure, it's a flawed documentary, but it's both timeless and informative. Anyone not living in the U.S can learn a lot in this documentary, I know I did, so, if you don't know about any of these incidents, or you just want to be entertained, this documentary is for you.

I would recommend it.