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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Bowling For Columbine
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  out of 4
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Starring: Michael Moore, George W. Bush
Director: Michael Moore
Rated: NR
RunTime: 120 Minutes
Release Date: October 2002
Genres: Action, Comedy, Documentary |
Review by Susan Granger
3½ stars out of 4
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Michael Moore's latest documentary is definitely a potential
Oscar-nominee. It's a satiric insight into America's gun-culture, and its
release couldn't be more timely with the terrifying news about the sniper in the
Washington, D.C. area. Yet, as Moore asserts, "Eight children under the age of
18 are killed by guns in America every day." The film, which grew from the
April, 1999, killings at Columbine High School, takes its title from reports
that students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went bowling the morning before they
went on their killing spree in Littleton, Colorado. Using the same wry,
confrontational, if slovenly, style that was so effective in "Roger and Me,"
Moore wonders why we suffer from an epidemic of murder. To this end, he corners
Dick Clark to ask him about an employee at one of his restaurants whose six
year-old son was involved in a fatal shooting and grimly questions the brother
of bomber Terry Nichols. While his interviews with shock rocker Marilyn Manson
and "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone, a Littleton native, are revelatory,
Moore never comes up with concrete answers. Violent entertainment isn't to blame
because the French and Japanese devour our movies yet their murder rate is low.
And it's not the proliferation of gun ownership because Canadians own more guns
than Americans but they don't shoot each other. While Charlton Heston of the
National Rifle Association dismisses Moore's allegations as "politically
irrelevant," decide for yourself. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10,
"Bowling for Columbine" is an edgy, infuriatingly funny 9. Whether or not you
agree with his politics, it's obvious that Michael Moore's propaganda evokes a
remarkable emotional effect. "Documentaries are about passions," he explains,
"and isn't that what great movies are about?"
Copyright © 2002 Susan Granger
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