Written, directed and produced by Michael Moore, SiCKO opens with Moore’s nemesis, George W. Bush standing at a podium, delivering a highly motivational speech about OB/GYNs (medical specialist in babies and women). Bush’s speech is followed by an equally gruesome home video of a man stitching up his busted knee with a primitive sewing kit. The rest of SiCKO progresses very much the same way: not-so-gentle mockery and gore mingling with a few heartwarming stories of Americans triumphing adversity.
Reading the synopsis, you rejoice, thinking that at last, Moore’s addressing issues that Americans can do something about. You think it’s not just a bold exposé that aims to embarrass politicians and he’s actually uncovering the plight of the ordinary American. So you settle into your seat and 45 minutes into the documentary (I use this term loosely), you realise that what was to be an investigative documentary has turned into a personal, first-person point of view film.

What’s SiCKO?

Moore brings a running commentary from America to American politicians to Britain to American politicians (again!) to Canada to France then to Guantanamo Bay.

The American chapter tells 34 sob stories with the most moving as a preface. Donna and Larry Smith of Aurora, Colorado had to leave their spacious home for the cramped basement of their resentful daughter’s house after being crippled by gigantic insurance bills. It just happened to be a delightful coincidence that their son-in-law was leaving for Iraq on a plumbing job and their 3 young grandchildren were crying their hearts out. Well, Moore’s never one for passing up a great opportunity to take a little stab at the highly unnecessary war against Iraq.

Then there’s the man who got 2 of his fingers sawn off by a table saw. But with the hefty price tag of US$60,000 (S$ 94,200) for his middle finger and US$12,000 (S$18,840) for his ring finger, the hopeless romantic who could only choose to reattach 1, chose the ring finger.

There was the mother who lost her daughter because the child was refused care at one hospital because clauses in her insurance required her to be treated in the hospitals that were listed in the policy.

The atrocities were juxtaposed with the seamless healthcare provided in France (1st on the World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems) and Britain (pioneer of the cradle-to-grave system).
After Moore takes us through the beauty of the Canadian, French and British systems, we’re yanked back to America where little is done for the rescue workers and volunteers of Ground Zero. Moore leaves this till the movie was near the end, perhaps hoping that the audience might leave the theatre thinking of the heroes that emerged from the tragedy.

Bravo Moore!

The style of SiCKO differs a little from Moore’s better known earlier works, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. SiCKO has a multitude of footage from home videos and archives, complete with off focused shots and tongue-in-cheek montages.

Moore’s innate sense of what would induce laughter proves itself in the many montages. He skillfully selects cheesy music to accompany Bush’s speeches and that effectively made Bush appear as an ineffectual fool. I also found myself giggling when the inexhaustible list of exception clauses in insurance policies rolled by with The Milky Way as a backdrop and Star Wars’ “The Imperial March” as its anthem.

After the culmination of feelings, first anger at the system, sadness for the people and then guilt at not having done anything or having the luxury of efficient healthcare, the montages provided a much needed respite.

With Moore’s modus operandi, having a camera set upon a tripod would only hamper his mission. When he had to cross the border into Canada, cameras were a no-no but if he hadn’t captured the shot, it would have compromised the integrity of the film.

If SiCKO is rough around the edges with little effort made towards lighting or framing, it’s because no one cares since the film has a larger, more important story to tell and Moore definitely isn’t aiming to bag any awards for excellent styling. Besides, connoisseurs of his films will tell you that it’s his content that truly matters.

Highly Questionable Credibility

I’ve always been a Michael Moore fan. Having watched Bowling for Columbine 3 times, I have had a constant admiration for his determination and ingenuity but SiCKO’s clearly questionable credibility was Moore’s downfall.

Granted, Moore did take the effort to find a few inside stories but these people seemed awfully discontented with their jobs and too ready to turn against their former employers.

Canadians, Bob and Estelle who insisted on going to Sears to purchase insurance before crossing the river into America were suspiciously unanimous and their answers were adamant but rehearsed. Oh, did I mention? They’re Moore’s relatives.

Moore had clearly picked his interviewees and deliberated much on how they should be portrayed. Crying babies, pictures of children who have passed away were lingered upon and a vagrant shaking in pain was given more screen time than a happy old man in a green field.

While he spends little time lighting the set, he’smeticulous in placing a photo of a loving couple in the background while a widow gives her heart-wrenching interview and having Donna Smith clutch a humungous pill box while talking about her disappointment in the system.

What SiCKO needed was a balanced point of view. When Moore showed all that is great in the French system, he failed to show how the French are staggering under high taxes.

SiCKO was also peppered by statistics that were designed to stun. Once numbers like, 18,000 Americans will die because they don’t have insurance, 47 million are uninsured, and the staggering salaries the Cabinet draws leaves the screen, you’ll recognise that Michael Moore is a film version of the shock-jock of the film industry.

SiCKO’s credibility continued to be dubious when Moore brought the volunteers from the 9/11 tragedy to Cuba to receive the care they so deserve. He asked that they get the same wonderful care that Cubans get. “And they did”, he revealed dramatically.

So thank heavens, the poor lady rescue worker was surrounded by 3 Cuban doctors as she’s diagnosed with respiratory problems. Well, surely any discerning adult would be able to deduce that should a camera be pointing vaguely in your direction, you’ll be on your best behaviour.

Moore’s Agenda

In the later part of the film, he strays away from the citizens and appears to want to have a slice of the limelight, cutting to himself when the scene really doesn’t call for it at all.

When Moore jokes about Americans crossing into Canada for treatment, saying, “We’re Americans. We go into any country we want,” laughter cruised through the theatre.

But it’s hard to ignore the personal prejudices that come into play when he embarks on his rampage against Bush and his posse. He becomes dangerously close to the line of being distasteful and the audience’s laughter dies down.

Moore needs to come off his high horse and realise that SiCKO isn’t and shouldn’t be a diatribe against President Bush’s Cabinet but an articulation of what the 34 Americans have endured.

Proceed with Caution

While some facts were clearly appalling and disturbing and you may be tempted to jump on the Michael Moore Socialist bandwagon, it’s essential that you read up a little before the documentary (again, used loosely) lest you be taken in by Moore’s theatrics.

Even though SiCKO started with me at the edge of my seat cringing at the great injustice and the exploitation of the Americans and ended with me at the edge of my seat cringing at the lack of credibility, I would watch it again because the raw emotion when a mother cries for a child means so much more than the grudges Moore has.

3 out of 5 stars

Movie Details:

Opens: September 13

Running Time: 120 minutes

Cast: Reggie Cervantes, John Graham, William Maher, Michael Moore

Director: Michael Moore