the movieGOOMBA

4 GOOMBAS

I work in the health care industry. I won't say what I do exactly. Lets just say I don't get to watch a whole lot of movies for my day job, but I must say, I do have an excellent, kick ass health insurance policy. Not to mention I have an in on what facilities have the most cutting edge medical equipment. I have it pretty good. And then I watched Sicko, a documentary that paranoid, hypochondriacs should not watch.

From the liberal mind of trendy documentary filmmaker, Michael Moore, Sicko points out the major flaws and unfair consequences of the American health insurance industry. Featuring former health insurance representatives, doctors caught in the insurance game, international healthcare users, and victims of denied health coverage, Sicko presents a harsh attack on American health insurance and the U.S. government.

Michael Moore is a manipulator, and by God, is he good at it. For the first hour of this documentary, he controlled my mind, my thoughts, and my opinions. "Why aren't we like France?" "How come we're not helping our fellow Americans by paying more taxes and having government controlled health care?" "Gosh darnit, that man deserves to have his middle finger reattched for nothing!" "Why can't we be Socialists?" (If I don't post in the next few days, it means I've been McCarthy-ed and have been kidnapped by the government.) But I took hold of my paranoid, worry wart self, shook her, said, "Get a grip Woman!", and put my film critic hat back on, and I realized, "Damn, Michael Moore is good."

As Moore ventures through his narration, each segment further strengthens his argument against American Health Insurance companies. The viewer comes up with a counter-argument to Moore's current point, and in the next segment Moore counters the counter-arguments. You're left with nothing to say except state a enthusiastically duped, "American Healthcare sucks!" Sicko's tone is at times, tongue-and-check and completely sarcastic. It presents in an understandable and interesting fashion, and the manipulation is seamless.

Health issues are tough, and Michael Moore's world makes it seem exponentially harder. Sicko shows a seedy side of health care, skewed as the opinion in this film is. Watch it with a grain of salt, and see how a documentary filmmaker pulls the strings.