SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Red-Barracuda Roger & Me is Michael Moore's first documentary feature film. It's more personal than his other films in that it focuses on his hometown of Flint, Michigan. More specifically on the aftermath of the closure of the General Motors plant that was based there, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs and subsequently led to a steep decline of Flint itself. The town developed such a poverty and crime problem that it was named as 'the worst place to live in America'.It's a blackly comic work which constantly contrasts the people afflicted by the upheaval with the attitude of the town's elite. It also takes a dim view of GM itself and its chairman Roger Smith in particular. The narrative thrust of the film sees Moore pursue Smith to try and get a face-to-face interview. Needless to say, he is successful in this endeavour in only an extremely limited way, only getting a very brief exchange late on in proceedings. Moore's approach to this and the film in general is typically manipulative though, setting up situations where he knows he will be rebuffed and including some unfair interview snippets with some quite innocent people, making them look stupid with editing for cheap laughs. When I viewed Moore's work for the first time, this sort of stuff didn't very much concern me but now I find it a little too underhand for my liking.Having said all this, if you accept that documentaries tend to be biased to some degree, I have to acknowledge that Moore does at the very least shine a light on a situation which otherwise would have been long forgotten by the majority of people by now and does give some disenfranchised folks a platform of sorts. And he is a skilled film-maker so his documentaries certainly are dynamic and entertaining which does help in getting a point across more effectively than a more sober treatment would. Roger & Me may be an attack on corporate America but it's often the smaller, stranger details that remain with you, such as the segment about the slightly unhinged lady who breeds and kills rabbits in her back yard in order to survive. On the whole, this film has all of the same negatives that all of Moore's subsequent work has, yet like those too it hammers home its point in an entertaining enough manner to remain in the memory and it occasionally hits upon an interesting truth every so often.

classicalsteve The irony of this film is if Roger Smith, then Chairman and CEO of General Motors, had agreed to Michael Moore's request in 1987 when Moore began production, there wouldn't be a film, or at least it wouldn't be half as interesting as it turned out. Moore simply wanted to interview Smith and take him on a day-tour of Flint, Michigian where he and the GM executives decided to close several of their car-manufacturing plants. Instead, Smith avoids the encounter, sending Moore on a kind of corporate wild-goose chase which ends up being both amusing and heart-wrenching.The tragic under-story which is really at the heart of Moore's film is how Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan, essentially goes down the proverbial sewer once the plants began closing, because in all likelihood, the GM executives did not understand how entwined the plant was with the local economy. Unemployment went up, businesses closed, houses went into foreclosures, people were evicted from rentals, and crime escalated. At one point, Flint becomes the crime capital of the United States. Certainly, to blame all of Flint's problems on the plant closing may be unfair, but most of the people who made the decisions to close the plants, particularly Roger Smith, are unwilling to talk about it. Moore, as far as I can tell, never demanded Smith reopen the plant. He just wanted to talk about how the life of the town had changed as a result. But talking about it would mean having to look at it, and look at it is not what Smith wants to do, which is I think the whole point of the film.At some point, Smith and the execs of GM become aware of Moore, his mic, his cameraman, and his crew, and hide from him at all costs, despite repeated requests for an interview. His employees as well as one of the lobbyists for the car industry, most of whom were not making 1% of Smith's yearly income, have to make excuses for him. The few who are willing to talk to Moore on camera rationalize that the decision to close the plants were in the best interests of the company, and that GM has absolutely no civic responsibility whatever, only the responsibility to make lots of money for their stockholders. Because Smith avoided Moore's microphone and camera, the irony itself makes interesting fair for a documentary film. The viewer's first thought is, what's he hiding? Of course, if Smith and his fellow executives made such a good decision by closing these plants right at the height of their profits, they should have nothing to hide and welcome the opportunity to explain their reasonings. Their avoidance of the conversation is quite telling."Roger and Me" was Michael Moore's first documentary and became the prototype for all his later projects. Moore interjects all the elements that will become trademarks for his future films: Moore's voice-over, classic film footage, home-movie footage, interviews with local people, footage of local events, and the most interesting of them all, going to the large executive suites, trying to get interviews. He did the same thing in his most-recent film, "Capitalism: A Love Story" where he used a blow-horn in front of a New York financial firm yelling "Give us back our money!" In Roger & Me he simply tries to get to the 14th floor of the main GM Building. At the time, the security and company managers didn't realize this would be tame by "Moore" standards.One of the more interesting developments is the numbers of celebrities and singers who come to Flint to try to inspire the town, everyone from the televangelist Robert Schuller, Pat Boone to then President Ronald Reagan, and Donnie and Marie Osmond make an appearance. Reagan suggests that the unemployed leave Flint and relocate to another state where there are more jobs. Sort of reminds me when certain politicians in the 1850's suggested African-American slaves relocate back to Africa. It's not only unrealistic, it's kind of insulting. Even Bob Eubanks, a native son and the MC for the Newlywed Game, visits Flint. Eubanks admits he knows nothing of their problems or their politics even though he was born there. The celebrities came and provided inspiration in very contrived live performances; unemployed persons got half off the regular ticket prices! The biggest irony is that aside from the discount, these celebrities who have made millions do nothing to actually help the town. The only attempt is an Autoland theme park, sort of like a Disneyland for cars, which bombs and closes after only six months.People have criticized Moore and his films because they distort the facts. But I don't think Moore is presenting a Frontline-like documentary. He uses humor and irony to make his point. The funniest and most-telling scenes are often the interviews of those on the adversarial side which inadvertently end up making his case. My favorite scene is when he is interviewing a few upper-crust ladies at a golf course, most of whom haven't worked a real day in their lives. With their golf clubs and sun hats, they're saying that these out-of-work people need to get off their duffs and do something. All the while they're swinging away at golf balls in between riding around in golf carts. It's so funny that they don't even see how hypocritical they appear. Of course none of the four women offer to do anything for their fellow Flint townsfolk. It's sad that these women could probably make such a difference in these people lives, but all they do is play golf.Certainly, Moore doesn't try to re-open the plant himself. But what he did was tell the story of Flint, Michigan, and I think that's Moore's main contribution. Again, his initial goal was simply to open a dialog. But of course, the minute people are willing to talk, who knows where it might lead?

chf_2258 As a prototypical youngest child I have an affinity for feather-ruffling and rabble-rousing. As such, I love these types of movies hence the 8-star rating. Still, this film bothered me in a few ways; the primary one is the basic question of exactly what do corporations owe their employees? Tastes change, technology changes, and not surprisingly business tactics change. I am not sure if Moore or the employees stated this, but what exactly did they want/expect? Of course they wanted to retain their jobs but as I understand it the owners of corporations are looking for increased profits. Cutting costs are one way to do that. One way GM found to cut costs was to manufacture abroad. So, why wouldn't GM do that? Due to employee loyalty? I'm not sure a corporation can exist if employee loyalty comes before profits. I think Moore should have also gone after primary stockholders/owners as well.As I watched, I had a similar thought that I had to consider the source and remember that Moore is a business man and being controversial sells tickets. I had that same feeling watching Sicko. It's like Moore's documentaries outcomes are predefined and he will see to it that it turns out that way. I thought Moore's asking those presumably rich people(and Miss Mich) their impromptu thoughts on the situation was unfair. I would welcome more intelligent debate where both sides are given some time to prepare. Why Roger didn't talk to Moore surprised me maybe Moore liked it that way. After all, did Moore truly do all he could to get an interview? I will bet you this. If on hiring day, every employee was informed that in the future GM may adopt tactics that would result in job losses, but that if this occurred laid-off employees might receive a severance package, the vast majority would still have taken the job regardless of these known pitfalls.To me, going to work for a corporation is a buyer-beware situation. As employees we need to maximize our time there. Take your vacations, max out your 401K, take advantage of tuition assistance, get physicals, and watch the behaviors of those successful counterparts who always seem to be in the right place at the right time. Also, if corporations worry you, don't work for them, go to work for a private firm but don't get there and complain about all the benefits your buddies at Verizon (or wherever) are getting.On a side note (perhaps somewhat relevant considering all the layoffs we're experiencing), we Americans need to start living more practically. If you make $50K/year live like you make $43K. If you participate in a 401K plan remember that a 401K is not a rainy-day account, it is a retirement plan. If you do not need a 2000sqft home, don't buy one. Cars and kids don't need their own bedrooms. Smaller homes encourage us to get out of the house which is not a bad thing. While having your own bathroom is convenient, it is so for about 30 minutes/day: SHARE them.Gas prices fluctuate. If you find yourself stressing about that, buy a smaller car and drive less....it can be done. Instead of packing up the bikes and kids and driving them to a bike trail, ride your bikes to the store, bank, video store, zoo, etc.... Also, smaller cars get you from point A to point B exactly like big cars do...only cheaper. While driving smaller, efficient vehicles is not considered cool is beyond me, this means the driver is smart and may have more money to spend...on you. This is not to say that you shouldn't have a comfy car....the problem is when people pull out food-stamps then hop into a brand new Maxima or Escalade.

DKosty123 This film is the most creative of Moore's efforts. It details the plight of Flint, Michigan because of General Motors (GM) layoffs in the late 1980's. It is named Roger & Me because the films story line is Morres pursuit of Roger Smith, the CEO of GM at this time, to find out why he is laying off all these workers & moving a bunch of jobs from Flint to Mexico.Remember, this is before the twin disasters of NAFTA & GAAT in the 1990's by Bubba's Administration & Party in 1993. Moores pursuit of Smith is super imposed over the compelling story of the suffering in Flint. All the story telling in this is well done.The film clips of GM's heydays in the 1950's with Pat Boone & Dinah Shore provide a great intro to the film. There are several dramatic reactions by auto workers getting laid off & their desperation. The city of Flints angst is well documented too.Moore never does catch Roger Smith. This is too bad because historically there is a very solid reason that GM started moving these jobs out of the country. Roger Smith would not have told the full truth if he had caught him. Smith would have told Moore that GM was doing the job exodus to remain competitive if cornered.There is something more important which Moore missed & Smith would not tell. The reason GM had to move those jobs is because of a change in Corporate Taxes pushed through in the 1986 Tax Law changes. That change eliminated from the Corporate Tax code the cost of the legal deductions of employee benefits by American Corporations. This made American jobs less competitive with other countries.Government did this in 1986 because they already knew the effect that baby boomer's aging would have on Medical costs, & knew if they remained deductible on US Corporations books, our Government could not afford the future cost of them being deductible. Before you blame Reagen for this, a reminder, the House & Senate were both controlled by Democrats when this passed.Moore is not smart enough to figure this out, which is why this film does not rate a 10 with me. If American Corporations could still deduct employee health benefits on their taxes, there would be no need for National Health Care, & it would start to counter balance some of the effect of NAFTA & GAAT by making the American worker more competitive again. Unfortunately, that is not in both "Parties" best interest.Post Script - Roger Smith (executive) Roger Bonham Smith (July 12, 1925 – November 29, 2007) was the Chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation from 1981 to 1990, and is widely known as the main subject of Michael Moore's 1989 documentary film Roger & Me.In 1981, Smith got the worlds largest car company and instead of looking for ways to grow the company which had more assets than any in the world, he started to destroy it. The results of his tenure became clear in less than 2 years after his death when GM went bankrupt and reorganized with major Federal Government help. This movie has a historic sequence where Michael Moore alternates between his cop throwing people out of their homes who have lost GM jobs due to Smith, and Smith giving one of the most stupid Christmas speeches ever made by a CEO. Fortune Magazine has given Smith a very much deserved credit for destroying the worlds largest corporations, and this film illustrates it clearly. TCM recently ran an edited version of this "R" Rated Classic.