Roger & Me

As far as I can tell, most or all of the 1 star reviews are entirely political. It's unfortunate that people feel the need to express their uniformed political inclinations in movie reviews. It's doubtful whether these people even watched the film. Without a doubt, the filmmaker is trying to put forward a point of view, but it's important to recognize that none of this film is fake. These things happened. You can argue with the filmmaker's spin, but you can't argue with the footage. In that sense, it is a true documentary. These are real people and real, unfortunate situations. The saddest aspect is that we can look back now in 2017 and see that things got even worst for Flint with the poisoning of their water. This is important film to get a sense of what it means to be a corporate town.

I really thought that this movie amalgamated entertainment with documentaries. Anyone will tell you that every documentary is bias, its just that is one comes out from behind the curtain and owns it... and with great results. It doesn't answer any questions about globalization or outsourcing, but perhaps by simply being there and provoking people it stimulates meditations on the idea of "progress". The least that you can say about Michael Moore is that he is entertaining. He brings issues to the table that were relevant in 1989 and continue to resonate, perhaps even more so in todays day and age. Good Movie.

This review is an excerpt from my book “Killer B’s: The 237 Best Movies On Video You’ve (Probably) Never Seen,” which is available as an ebook on iBooks. If you enjoy this review, there are 236 more like it in the book (plus a whole lot more). Check it out! ROGER & ME: Michael Moore certainly doesn’t look like a genius, or a threat. But beneath that slovenly, goofy guise lurks the cynical spirit of an avenging angel. Moore’s genius lies in using that image: posing as a lisping simpleton too stupid to understand Orwellian Corporate Newspeak—or when to go away. If he were snide or snotty or confrontational, he’d lose us in a second. But he never attacks or accuses; he just baits and waits. Eventually, inevitably, his subjects hoist themselves by their own petards. Moore’s first feature-length documentary set the tone for several more to follow. The film is a masterpiece of bitter, savage, flamboyant irony: Moore merely casts a cold, quiet eye on actual events and lets them speak for themselves. They speak volumes; they speak loud and clear—and they speak heartbreakingly hilarious truth.

You can like Michael Moore or hate him as many do, but you can't deny what GM did to Flint and other company towns. And yes the unions have to take a share of the blame as well. Documentaries are always made from a particular point of view. Moore's just happens to be a strong one. Remember, he lived there and watched the decay happen before his eyes. He uses comedy as part of his art to shed light on the truth as he sees it. You can agree or disagree with his viewpoint but as docs go, Roger and Me is considered groundbreaking and well done by many. If you haven't seen it I recommend giving it a chance and then judge for yourself.

I watched this when it was in cinema, from Orange CA! There were 8 people in the entire place, and we ALL were Michigan Expatriates familiar with the phrase "Michigan, last one out remember to turn off the lights!" As a documentary, it chronicles what happens to people who put their trust in a corporation and not themselves-those who feel entitled to something without working or assuming risk. As some here state, it's a highly skewed piece as the director's later works showed even more clearly. Mike Moore rode these people's backs to fame and fortune in no less a way than he people he demonizes in the film. I left Michigan 5 years before this was made, when people ask me "why did you leave" I have them view this film. It, for me, chronicles what was wrong with the union entitlement mentality, and the death-grip they put not everything in the state. It was impossible to get any sort of entry-level position in the state without paying graft to a union. Mike Moore was born in the same place as I, and two more divergent attitudes could not exist in us as individuals. I generally support artists rights to profit, but since Mike makes such a big push for it, I'd suggest you do a free download of the movie someplace off the Internet, rather than pay WB anything. Or buy a used copy at someone's garage sale. The movie is funny, but just know its hugely scripted and biased. The best part is sitting back watching people I don't technically know...but who mouth like parrots the same entitlement minded communist gobbledygook the UAW put forth every month in its rag "Solidarity"! Useful idiots is what they were called in the theoretical stages of the international...

Really- I'm a crazy liberal and he just drives me insane! This and every movie he has done is so ridiculously slanted that an embarrasses me as a liberal. What did Thomas Moore say?!!?

My political leanings probably aren't too far off of Michael Moore's but I can't take manipulation of facts. If you know you are watching a propaganda piece, it's a pretty good ride. If you think this is an honest attempt at a story, please educate yourself. There are plenty of unbiased sources out there that have documented Moore's carefree approach with the facts.

Great movie!

Claims to be Documentary but it is a scripted work of fiction. Claims to present facts but it is all made up, like every work by this director/actor.

This movie entertained me but it's misleading. Throughout the movie Moore claims to be tripping to interview Roger Smith, CEO of GM, to no avail. But now, years later, it is known that he did get his interview - two of them, in fact. He chose not to use them in this film, or even admit they happened, for dramatic effect. That's activism, not documentary filmmaking. So enjoy this work of fiction as a work of fiction, but don't confuse it with a real documentary because it's not.