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The Big One Dir: Michael Moore Stars: Michael Moore, Phil Knight, Garrison Keillor, Rick Nielson. How does a blue collar, man of the people react to being flown around the country on the corporate till of a huge publisher in support of a best-selling book? He gets pissed, and maybe a little uncomfortable, and breaks out of the routine as quickly as possible. That's how Michael Moore ended up making his latest film, The Big One, while on a book tour for Downsize This!, his best-selling, corporate-bashing satire. The original impetus for the film was reportedly a chance meeting with a politician in the lobby of a corporate headquarters. Moore was caught camera-less in a great opportunity. The politician smiled and wished him better luck next time. Moore vowed not to let that happen again, and started taking a camera crew everywhere on the tour. Much to the chagrin of his media handlers from Random House, Moore took every opportunity in each city on the tour to reinforce his identity as Corporate Enemy Number One. At every stop in The Big One, he picks a fight, whether it's Johnson Controls in Milwaukee or Pillsbury in Minneapolis. He always manages to find someone who has either been laid off recently or is fighting to unionize. In some cases, the people find him. Borders bookstores banned the filmmaker from their stores after he met with workers trying to form a union in Des Moines. By the end of the tour, workers trying to unionize at Borders in Philadelphia and Des Moines had won their unions. Moore went back to Des Moines to talk with the same group he had initially met with in the middle of the night in an empty parking lot. Now they met in front of the store, and went over to the grocery store across the street to brag to the baggers. It was a rare moment of victory. Throughout most of The Big One, Moore is on familiar ground, being shut out of company headquarters at Payday, where he was almost arrested, and denied access to the CEO of Pillsbury. Moore's sense of humor never sinks. He just fights back with wit and vigor. He is allowed only one question for the Pillsbury CEO, and is forced to write it on a yellow sticky note, which is then brought to the big man by a security guard. He asks why the doughboy needs millions in welfare to develop a campaign for Spanish speaking countries. In Cantralia, Illinois, he organizes a demonstration for laid-off Payday workers, who drop candy bars into a wooden coffin. Absurd? Yes, but no more so than the situations he found in the first place. If The Big One has a fault, it's that it can be self-indulgent. Moore has taken a lot of criticism for the fact that he is on-screen for most of the film, compared with virtually no screen time in his classic documentary, Roger & Me. He does his stand-up for the crowds of adoring fans and plays practical jokes on his media escorts. He even does a fairly good Bob Dylan impression in a visit with Rick Nielson, lead guitarist for Cheap Trick. The bits that focus on Moore can be disjointing, making it easy to mistake the message for the messenger. But remind yourself that this is, after all, a diary of a book tour, and that most of these bits are Moore's observations from the book. It would be senseless to remove the material that is the reason the movie exists in the first place for the sake of its political message. And the personal bits are still entertaining. Moore might be clowning around and mugging it up for the camera, but he doesn't soften his stance. When he meets with Phil Knight, owner and CEO if Nike, Inc., he lays into him about Nike's factories in Indonesia, mentioning the child labor and that some workers are only twelve years old. "Fourteen," Knight says. "That has to bother you," Moore replies. Knight says Americans simply don't want jobs making shoes. Moore returns with a videotaped plea from laid-off workers in Flint, Michigan, asking Nike to consider building a plant in their city. Knight holds his ground. In a last-ditch effort, Moore challenges Knight to a footrace. It's almost as if he senses this is finally one where he can win, but Knight and Nike simply say no. If you own Downsize This!, a lot of this material will be familiar to you. If you liked "TV Nation," and like Moore in general, you'll love The Big One. Go after work, if you still have a job. -Nick |
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