Review of Roger & Me (1989) by Tyler F — 18 Jan 2009

Michael Moore's first breakthrough documentary, establishing the template for his style of film--allegedly about his attempts to track down GM Chairman Roger Smith and talk to him about the impact of job cuts in Flint Michigan, but in reality it's about two things--the development of Moore's Persona and the portrait of a community that's fallen into economic depression.

The first gets in the way of viewing the movie as a movie, unfortunately--at this point in time it's hard to separate Moore the personality from his work, and some of the arguments over what was filmed/how the movie was edited only help cast a shadow over the focus on the town of Flint, which is captured pretty vividly, in both highs and lows--the rabbit-skinning scene is one in particular that stays with you, regardless of your political opinions, and the impact that massive job losses can have on a community, shown here, makes the film at least worth a look, given today's headlines.