FAHRENHEIT 11/9

Writer & Director
Michael Moore
(BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, FAHRENHEIT 9/11, SICKO)

Immediately before the opening credits of FAHRENHEIT 11/9 begin, well-known documentary filmmaker Michael Moore verbally poses the question that many of us, myself included, have also asked in relation to the Presidency of Donald J. Trump – How the f*** did we get here!?

Truth be told, there is no reasonable answer. After all, Trump did receive less votes than his Democratic adversary, Hillary Clinton. Nevertheless, in his best endeavours to provide the world with a fairly comprehensive understanding of just how this shock result came to fruition, Moore adopts a multifaceted approach that delves quite heavily into a number of political and social issues plaguing America right now. Though these other important topics may sound, and for a while do, seem to be a deviation from the orange-hued subject of this documentary, they all bear and will eventually reveal significant relevance to the disastrous outcome of America’s 2016 election, and much more.

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Ordinarily, I prefer to leave my own political views out of my film reviews. Admittedly, when it comes to documentaries, I do feel compelled and sometimes even passionate to advocate their particular cause when in harmony with it. Given the rare opportunity to see a filmmaker so closely analyse the rise of one of the most powerful, influential yet inept political figures in the world, who is anything but ordinary, with the intent to show Americans where they are headed and how they can save themselves from the frightening fate bestowed upon them, it would be cowardice of me to not voice the explicit writings on the wall here.

For those of us who are familiar with the style of Michael Moore, and amid the rumours and observing the poster for this film, you might approach FAHRENHEIT 11/9 ready to see Donald J. Trump being brought down like never before. While Moore doesn’t hold back from taking the occasional, truthful and irresistible jab at Trump, the intention isn’t to purely discredit him. Donald Trump already well and truly achieved that himself. Rather, and more importantly, Moore utilises his vast and credible knowledge to grant audiences the power to understand the past and present, and how the future can be changed. How to really make America great again, not hate or white again.

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At a tad over two hours, the abundance of information within FAHRENHEIT 11/9 can become challenging to ingest at times. Moore covers issues that include the drinking water crisis in his hometown Flint, Michigan, the tragic Parkland high-school shooting incident that claimed seventeen lives, the events within the Democratic Party that resulted in Hillary Clinton running for Presidency over Bernie Sanders, and certain significant events and outcomes that contributed to several American citizens deciding against voting in the 2016 election. For every bit of ground covered, Michael Moore makes distinct correlations from these to the current leadership throughout the United States and the (corrupt) system that handed Donald Trump the title of U.S President.

If like me, you observe and consider a film’s IMDB rating prior to watching it (or not), please disregard the current low score of 5.7/10. Ostensibly, Trump supporters are as protective of their current President as they are their right to bear arms! Though FAHRENHEIT 11/9 isn’t Michael Moore’s greatest work, it is certainly his most important yet.

3 ½ stars

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Viewer Discretion
M (Mature themes and coarse language)