Michael Moore has build himself a reputation as an excellent documentary maker who is not opposed to criticizing America and the American government. He is an active social critic and liberal activist who places many of the top political topics at the forefront of people's minds. Fahrenheit 9/11 is the highest grossing documentary of all-time and came just two years after Bowling for Columbine which helped make Moore's name in America.
The documentary looks at how President Bush got elected by claiming that Fox news ran a story saying that Bush had won the state of Florida rather than Al Gore and that Bush had ties with numerous people involved in the process of deciding election results in the state. It moves on to the topic of 9/11 and Bush's reaction after the event due to his numerous ties with the Saudi government and the bin Laden family themselves from his work running oil companies in Texas. None of the bin Laden family were interviewed about Osama before they were flown out of the country by the US Government.
The film finishes by looking at the war in Iraq which was started by Bush for allegedly bogus reasons about weapons of mass destruction and to deflect attention from bin Laden who was hiding out in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The topic of oil and the American companies that benefited hugely from the invasion of Iraq is investigated whilst the issue of the poorest families being the ones offered no career but the army is openly criticized.
The early parts of the film openly display evidence of Bush's involvement with the bin Laden family and the actions he took that were at odds with what he should have been doing to protect America rather than his own families interests. It speaks to a number of politicians and government workers from the time who help to bring credibility to what is being stated in the film. Later on the film leans more heavily on what could be seen as propaganda about the Iraq war and is seen as being incredibly one-sided in what it shows. There is no doubt that Moore is a skilled documentary maker and the fact this film is out there for the world to see creates the sort of debate that is needed on a topic like this.
2.5/4 superbly argued but loses its credibility in the second half
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