Review of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005) by Alex D — 25 Aug 2007
An immodestly partisan, distressing and depressing defilement of Samuel Walton's notoriously salacious consumer empire. The film itself is low-key and decidedly low-rent, but the compiled material is extremely strong, in particular the shocking mini-profile of a young Chinese couple who spend almost two thirds of their lives slaving away for peanuts in a Wal-Mart sweatshop.
The film's case is well presented and hugely persuasive, instilling worry and exasperation exactly where it should... before deciding, in the final minutes, to vastly overstate the case of a small handful of American cities who've rallied to successfully keep Wal-Mart out, thus ending the film on an excessively jubilant high note.
The screen is filled with reverent, mocked-up headlines for several minutes, informing us that the little guy has won out after all. After spending ninety minutes celebrating the strength and determination of the hundreds of ordinary people who've been fucked over by the corporation, to end the film on this note seems heinous and disingenuous.
Aside from this bizarre, morally dubious creative decision, this is a reasonably solid and gripping documentary.
This review of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005) was written by Alex D on 25 Aug 2007.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price has generally received positive reviews.
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