Capitalism: A Love Story – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

The mere mention of his name sends people into a frenzy. His films are controversial, and not just amongst people who have different opinions than him, but even within the documentary community. Love him, hate him, or really hate him, it’s always an event to sit and see a new Michael Moore film, except those who despise him really won’t give his films a chance. A pity to be so close-minded. Capitalism: A Love Story might be Micheal Moore going through his usual motions, but that doesn’t really matter, because the film offers up some very tangible ideas and thoughts, that must be examined and talked about.

His new film might seemingly be a sneer towards the heart of America, a possible mean-spirited attack, that should have the conservative opposer’s hating Moore even more. That couldn’t be any more incorrect, as this film shows that Michael Moore loves America, and might be our country’s most vocal champion. Capitalism in that idealist 1950′s thought mentality is dead, as America has quite literally folded upon itself. More so than ever, times are tough. The middle class is dying, as the separation from the poor to the rich is widening. America, the home of the dream that anyone can make it, is now a vicious plutocracy.

Huh?

Don’t worry, because that was a term I just learned too. A Plutocracy means a very small proportion of the country’s rich, controls the government. Can you think of something in America, that could have this control? How about Wall Street? This is Moore’s focus point, but the film’s heart is seen in stories of people losing their homes, or scenes of workers losing their jobs. This puts a human face on our problem, and adds some emotion to his lecture. Moore is fine form here, even though he sort of takes less of a role in front of the camera, and I think he has never been funnier. Some might feel his approach here is scatter shot, as he shows a variety of things within his main theme, like showcasing pilots and their meager yearly income, the “Dead Peasants” policies (a disgusting thing companies are doing that involve them taking out insurance policies with the hopes of their employees dying so they can collect thousands of dollars in the name of profit), and the housing collapse. Poor Detroit. I didn’t find it at all scatter shot, as capitalism is a broad term, so he had to focus on a variety of issues.

As an American, and assuming you can place your political ideologies aside for a second, there are things in Capitalism: A Love Story that should piss you off. People are getting laid off, the banks are the enemies, the housing market has decayed, and the rich are getting richer. We all know people in these situations and we’re mad. There’s hope though. There has been rumors that this might be Michael Moore’s last documentary, and he ends it with a plea to us that he can’t fight the power all by himself anymore and he needs us to help…now. Jokingly, he adds: And can you hurry it up? It’s a final mission statement to who Moore is, a true America-loving artist who uses our fore fathers wish of Free Speech to the max. I’m sick of being a victim to capitalist crimes, and instead of using the mask of Guy Fawkes like some English have, to fight government injustice, here in America, I’ll wear a Michael Moore mask, raise my fist, and save America. Who’s with me?

Somewhere, Glen Beck is wetting himself…

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Typical for a documentary on high-def, the source material is usually a collection of different materials in a variety of quality, but overall all, it looks good on Blu. Moore uses a lot of news footage and they’re average looking. The newly shot scenes with him on Wall Street or interviews look good. Audio is the same as the picture, but there’s some nice oomph to it. For a doc, Anchor Bay/Starz did a decent high-def job on this one.

If you look at the back of the cover art, you’ll notice a slew of extras. The vast majority are Deleted Scenes in HD, and they’re worth watching. Each of them run about 5-9 minutes, generally in length.

What if, What if, We Had Listened to Jimmy Carter in 1979? Running about 18 minutes, this isn’t a deleted scene, but rather an extended bit with ex-President Carter, who appears briefly in the film. Worth watching.

Trailers and a Windows-Only Digital Copy round out the extras.

Conclusion: Another solid doc from “America’s Nightmare”. Worth seeing, especially in our current economic climate. Decent high-def, too.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: