“Sicko,” review by Susan Granger
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Sicko is a sensational 10. Its not a perfect movie but it will make you think and the conversations youll have afterwards are worth far more than the price of admission.
Why do we go to the movies? To be entertained and to be informed. Movies can capture Americas ethical or moral values of the moment, and movies can make us question who we are as individuals and what we are as a society.
Thats what docu-dramatist Michael Moore does – with Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. Now hes taken aim at our corrupt health-care system, showing albeit anecdotally how the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies have bought Congress so they can continue to dictate governmental decisions about health care. Its an incontrovertible indictment.
According to the World Health Organization, the United States is ranked 37th, far behind Canada, England, France and Cuba. These nations manage to care for their citizens at little or no cost to the individual patient. Taxes pay the medical bills for everyone.
Michael Moores cinematic style is manipulative, often confrontational and brutally comic. Granted, his unsubtle irony is simplistic and his hospital vignettes are staged; theyd have to be. Perhaps the drugs an American patient buys in Havana for five cents, as opposed to $120 at home, are not FDA approved. And Moores voyeuristic visit to Guantanamo with 9/11 rescue workers is obviously a stunt. But the evidence of American profiteering is overwhelming.
Moore poses the question: why do we gratefully accept the aid of our police and fire departments which are government funded yet become alarmed at the concept of socialized medicine? Isnt taking care of ourselves the essence of democracy?
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Sicko is a sensational 10. Its not a perfect movie but it will make you think and the conversations youll have afterwards are worth far more than the price of admission.
