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    Where to Invade Next

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    I’ve seen very few documentaries that I would qualify as 100% objective and on that short list you won’t find any of Michael Moore’s films. When making a film, the man clearly has an agenda. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sure he’s used some underhanded tactics in the past. Ambushing people to get them to make them look like fools (though one might argue he’s just showing them for what they really are), that’s not professional journalism. He’s put himself in positions where he knows exactly what’s going to happen and then makes it appear like he’s surprised is also somewhat artificial, but I’m fine with that. Movies are made to be entertaining and the best ones are also personal. “Where To Invade Next” is both. It’s funny, thought-provoking, fascinating and I found myself very emotional in some scenes.

    In this picture, Michael Moore has been “charged” to invade other countries and steal their ideas. He goes to France, Portugal, Italy and more to see what they’re doing right and rip them off to improve America’s economy, prison system, drug policies, schools, etc.

    “Where to Invade Next” is a criticism of the way the U. S. handles many things, but it doesn’t feel mean spirited. It’s a fact that the Old Red, White and Blue’s education costs are the second highest in the world… so why is it ranked so much lower than Finland in terms of how well it’s students do? Shouldn’t the most powerful country in the world find out how it can stay on top by looking at what its peers are doing and learn from them? I think so. I’m not an American but that sounds like a very patriotic idea. The Land of Opportunity begins with it’s students getting the best treatment they can so that they grow up to be the best leaders in the world, and in the U.S.A. they aren’t getting that. The film isn’t only about education and it’s not an in-depth about the different factors that make Finland, France or those other countries unique, what works there and what doesn’t. It’s about looking at what they do right and pondering what we can learn from them.

    The film is set up as a sort of travelogue. We go from one place to another, we examine an aspect that could be improve in the States, do a couple of interviews, Moore tells the people of the nation that he’s taking that idea and then moves on. I didn’t walk into the theatre knowing what the running time was. That meant every time he left a country, I became frightened. “What if the movie’s over?! ” The different cultures we see, the comparisons between Moore’s home country and these other ones, it’s fascinating. Some of the ideas are so radical, so different from the ones we’re accustomed to (I live in Canada so our way of running things is fairly similar) that sometimes, I couldn’t believe it. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities, it made me rethink the way I looked at education, prisons, food, vacations, aspects of my life that I thought were fine suddenly seem mediocre. I kept saying to myself “Yes, give me more! I want to learn everything! ” I can’t wait for this picture to come out on home video. There are so many scenes I want to re-watch or to show some of my friends to rip the blinds off their eyes.

    There are points where the film gets sad or gloomy, but this is not a depressing film. It’s inspiring. Sure, there are bad things that happen, but we can figure out a way for them not to. The power to make it happen, it’s available to us. As the film points out, there are many things that we never saw coming that did, like gay marriage for example. When I was young I would have never believe that my country, and our neighbours at the south would legalize it within my lifetime. It’s a hopeful movie and I think in a way all of Moore’s films are. It’s a perfect example of Moore at his best. He takes a heavy subject, packages it in a way that’s accessible, thought provoking and entertaining. It’s a picture that will have you howling when you’re not so furious that you want to run outside and start setting things on fire… and then leaves you wondering what YOU can do to keep the ball rolling. Even if you disagree with some of the stuff presented, you can’t help but see that there are some legitimate points made.

    You don’t have to be of any specific nationality to enjoy “Where to Invade Next” its appeal is universal because it talks about so many different cultures and highlights brilliant ideas, the very best of humanity. I was inspired and moved by it, a reaction I did not expect. Honestly, I almost cried at one testimonial from Germany. “Where To Invade Next” is a film I hope a lot of people see. You would have to be the most narrow-minded or cynical Swiss cheese-brained Flat Earth theorist not to find at least a half-dozen mind-blowing ideas within it’s 120 minute running time. (Theatrical version on the big screen, March 13, 2016)

    10
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    adamwatchesmovies@  16.3.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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