The populist purveyor of conservative bitch-slaps also wants you to believe his gift is a serendipitously timed thank-you to fans 20 years after releasing “Roger & Me.”
But there’s clearly another reason: “Slacker Uprising” just isn’t as good as the rest of Moore’s flicks. In fact, it boasts only a 40 percent approval rate on film review aggregator rottentomatoes.com. The movie, which follows Moore’s 62-city, Bush-basing tour of colleges leading up to the 2004 election, lacks the sniping wit, interpersonal car crashes and effusive, proletariat charm evident in his other efforts.
The “Fahrenheit 9/11” Aftermath
Moore’s muckraking documentary detailing the Sept. 11 attacks - and the Iraqi war afterward - was a controversial and critically acclaimed movie that generated nearly $120 million at the box office, according to the movie’s IMDB.com entry.
“Fahrenheit 9/11” was maverick filmmaking even for Moore, who had sparred with the Bush administration previously, just not on this personal of a level. And while the “Fahrenheit” effect spread from a grassroots movement to a national phenomenon, Moore was simultaneously filming his next project, the aforementioned “Slacker Uprising.” It’s “filming” in the loosest of senses, as the project is really just a randomly sequenced patchwork of various college visits with Moore standing behind the lectern.
“What I encountered during the tour and the filming was both inspiring and frightening, so I thought, hey, this might make for a funny and enlightening movie!” Moore wrote to readers on SlackerUprising.com, the same site you can submit your email address through to watch the movie via free stream, download or burn. “Each night, thousands would show up to volunteer in the Slacker Army against Bush.”
Apparently, you had to be there.
Both the slacker movement and movie were meant to derail President George W. Bush’s bid for a second term and help Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry win the election. But the incumbent’s train kept on chugging with Moore's army in its dust.
The Downfalls of “Slacker Uprising”
Movie fans, but more important, Michael Moore fans return to the teat of their frumpy, ball-capped hero because he’s developed a documentary film formula that usually works: Irreverent narration, awkward confrontations and a rebellious streak that has corporate PR people and gun owners wobbling in their loafers every time they he approaches. This formula worked for “Roger & Me” (1989), “Bowling for Columbine” (2002), “Fahrenheit 9/11” (2004) and most recently, “Sicko” (2007).
But “Slacker Uprising” lacks all these Moore trademarks. Even the promised celebrity cameos fall flat. Several big-name libs join Moore as he stomps through college campuses trading co-eds Ramen Noodles for their promise to vote. Eddie Vedder croons some Cat Stevens, REM whines without passion behind the mic and even Roseanne Barr is more annoying as usual.
Sure, there are some poignant moments when veterans speak out against the war and families of fallen soldiers beg for our understanding and withdrawel, but with the exception of showing mere hints of the conservative backlash against his tour, Moore fails to draw the passion he does from his previous efforts. In fact, even though “Slacker Uprising” will be viewed on laptops and iPhones across the country rather than big screens, no one will be picketing your wireless router.
And that’s the harshest criticism you can give a Michael Moore movie: “Slacker Uprising” probably isn’t even meaningful enough to be challenged.
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