AFI FEST: Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next Review

Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next Review: A Must See

I want to start this review by saying no matter what people think or say about Michael Moore, I will always admire and support the man. He is a filmmaker who takes on issues and gets the conversation started. We need more filmmakers who aren’t afraid to bring up important issues that actually need to be discussed regardless of where you stand politically. For the past 25 years, Michael Moore has tackled major issues including child labor, big corporations, gun control, health care, capitalism, corrupt media, and several other topics. Moore always brings up issues that require change and isn’t afraid to do so even when he knows he will be attacked by those who don’t agree with him.

As a long time supporter of Moore, I hate that people view this man as someone who hates America just because he brings up things that he would like to see changed. Just because someone says they want a better healthcare system doesn’t make them Anti-American nor does someone who doesn’t like or support war. Moore is definitely opinionated and it goes without saying that he leans much more to the left than he does for the right. He is however, someone who focuses on the bigger picture of “US” rather than “ME” and that is exactly what his latest film is about.

Michael Moore’s latest documentary is just as entertaining as it is eye opening. Unlike Moore’s other documentaries, Where to Invade Next doesn’t really tackle one particular subject matter that he feels needs to be examined. Instead, Moore travels to various countries looking for ideas that he can steal from these countries as a way to make the USA a better place. On his journey, Moore invades 12 different countries including Italy, Germany, and Tunisia. In each country, he finds at least one thing that country does better than the United States and steals it to bring it back to America.

Funded entirely by Moore without any studio involvement, Where to Invade Next is a series of shocking truths and facts about America and other countries. I don’t want to go through all of them because I want people to see this film but let’s just say these truths range from vacation days to Women’s rights. The way that Moore visits each country is interesting as he tends to find a negative thing to state about the county as well as a positive one. As he travels from country to country, he informs those he interviews how the USA handles a particular issue. The reactions that the interviewees have as well as Moore’s reaction is priceless. This is really where most of the comedy comes from in the film.

Some of the ideas revealed in this documentary are ones that I think Americans will see and agree on but there are plenty of others where I think it would take years, if not decades to adopt in this country. Regardless of a specific issue, there is no doubt that some of these topics need to be addressed within the United States immediately. We as Americans shouldn’t be afraid to admit that we need to fix things rather than just leaving them broken. A lot of these topics are not a matter of opinion but instead cold hard facts.

There are moments throughout Where to Invade Next where I couldn’t stop laughing while at times I actually felt ashamed to be an American. This is such a bold film because Moore just shows us these ideas and leaves it up to the audience to decide which ones they feel they would like to see changed here in America. The most surprising fact about all the ideas shown within this film are that they are essentially American ideas that other countries adopted but for some reason we overlooked. There is no doubt that some of the ideas presented require immediate change such as the war on drugs and education while others can’t just be adopted and will require a long course of action to go into effect.

All in all, Where to Invade Next is a must see film that all Americans should try to go into with an open mind. I understand that many find Michael Moore to be this in your face type of documentary filmmaker but what he is doing with this film is just asking for change. Moore wants nothing more to see America become a better place and for those who think he’s against America are completely blind of the real issues at hand. There are far too many things not working in America and while we continue to claim to be the greatest country in the world; we need to make a change to be better. This is the type of film that everyone should see and think about. These are issues that really matter in this world rather than focusing on the lives of the Kardashians or who is directing the next Star Wars film. America needs to change and this film gives us many ideas that we as Americans should seriously look into.

MovieManMenzel’s final rating for Where to Invade Next is a 9 out of 10.