Friday, June 29, 2007

"Sicko" -- A Horror Film

Michael and I took in an afternoon showing of "Sicko" yesterday on the Upper West Side. We both really enjoyed it, although it suffers from the same flaw all of Michael Moore's films do: for his core audience it's presented in a way that's preaching to the choir. (How great would it be if The Others were forced to sit through "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Bowling for Columbine" or this?) The things I was supposed to feel shocked and outraged about here in America -- like a non-wealthy guy having to decide which finger to have sewn back on in a saw accident or cancer patients not being approved for by their insurers for experimental therapies -- were not the least bit of a surprise. Ditto for the obscene corporate profits fueled by being in bed with Congress and denying even the most basic services to its customers. (I guess this should say something about us as a country, but I do read the papers after all.) Some of the perks of other countries' universal health care, however, did spark quite a bit of envy in me (I won't spoil them here, but people with children will be especially green).

Another good effort from everyone's favorite self-appointed government watch dog -- and let's hope that this will kick-start the debate for the United States' badly needed health care reform (Hello -- Hillary Clinton was on this more than 10 years ago. Can you imagine how many U.S. businesses could have been spared without the weight of this national crisis on their backs?)

And kudos to Moore for not really being in the film very much. We all know how unpleasant that is.

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