Michael Moore's Best Film

TM and I saw Sicko today. I was expecting to leave the theater upset, angry and hopeless. Instead, I was moved beyond words. After the movie was over, TM and I just hugged each other and cried.

I'm still processing what about the film was so moving. For one thing, it was a well-constructed story with a beginning, middle, and end. Moore interspersed his facts and figures with really compelling human stories. They were real people with average lives. They didn't have some crazy diseases; people with health insurance went bankrupt from having heart attacks and diabetes.

As usual, Moore made the complex world of American politics and business highly accessible and extremely eye-opening.

But I think the best parts of the movie surround Moore himself. Unlike his previous films, he didn't insert himself as much into this one. Don't worry, he's still up to his usual shenanigans...his arrival at Gitmo was hilarious. But for the most part, he just let the people tell their stories. It was those stories that made me laugh and cry, sometimes simultaneously.

Moore also really loves America. I know there's been a lot of hoopla about him going to Cuba...those scenes, by the way, were wonderful...but he really does believe that America can be so much better than it is. During the part where he highlights the LA hospitals dropping off homeless patients on Skid Row, he asks the audience "Who are we?" And there is so much pain in his voice. I guess I always thought that he was just an angry guy who had at his disposal the means to shame America. But I learned that he loves his country.

I'm not nearly as articulate about this movie as I mean to be. But everyone should see this movie. Everyone should see this movie like they saw An Inconvenient Truth. You should see this movie, because Moore shouldn't be criticized for doing what every single filmmaker does: tells a story with a specific point of view. His point of view is pretty damn riveting.