CAPTAIN MIKE ACROSS AMERICA
Rating: ** (out of ****)
Cast: Michael Moore
Director: Michael Moore
Screened as part of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2007 at Ryerson.

I find Michael Moore to be a fascinating figure, partly because he’s someone whose true personality remains invisible, despite the thousands of hours of publicity he has done. However, there is no shortage of personas. There’s the naive hick trying to get his way into an interview with Roger Smith or looking incredulously at Canadians who inform him their healthcare is free. There’s the angry, impassioned speaker at numerous anti-Bush rallies, condemning his enemies in a style that calls to mind a Bible-thumping Evangelist. There’s the underdog-championing “man of the people,” or, conversely, the sinister, fact-twisting narcissist. Or, if you happen to see him after a film festival screening of one of his movies, there’s the humble artist who’s overwhelmed that he’s just received his millionth standing ovation and confesses that he hates seeing himself on a 40-foot screen. Aw, shucks, folks.

I confess that I don’t really like Michael Moore very much. Oh, sure, I agree with his politics, enjoy his bumbling screen persona, admire his movies, and get swept up in the wave of publicity they inevitably inspire. I also think he’s a shameless liar (I was going to sugarcoat that, but no, it’s true) who’s not above using the fear-mongering and fact-fudging he claims to deplore in “the bad guys,” and who always smacks of insincerity.

But there’s something about his presence that is seductive. When he came out on stage at the Ryerson theatre for the world premiere of his new movie, Captain Mike Across America, he talked with the patented fake modesty of his that, I admit, is endearing. And the man is funny - when saying that Sicko is now the third highest-grossing documentary of all time, he cracked, “All that stands between Sicko and Fahrenheit are those fuckin’ penguins.” Man, I truly forgot that I didn’t like the guy.

The post-film Q & A session, though, was definitely a reminder. He launched into a long, rambling monologue about the people who have made a cottage industry out of debunking and challenging (or, according to Moore, “lying about”) his work. “I’m even getting it from Canadians now,” he said, perhaps referring to Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine’s quite good film Manufacturing Dissent. “I’ve come to the conclusion,” he said, “that if you hear anything about me in the media, you should assume it’s a lie.” Then he added, “even if it’s good,” perhaps so that his lovable image would remain intact.

He also defended himself against a critic who allegedly said that Captain Mike Across America was good, but that there was too much of Moore in it. “That’s like having a U2 concert film and not having Bono in it.”

Well, “Mike,” I’m sad to say it, but you are indeed one of the problems of the film. Programmer Thom Powels, in his note in the official TIFF schedule, called the film, “a reminder that a new political force emerged on those campuses.” The Internet Movie Database quotes Moore as saying it depicts, “the birth of a new political generation.” Alas, the film Moore has made is not about the new political generation. It is about Michael Moore, crusader for justice, man of the people, impassioned activist, and all-around awesome guy. The working titles for this film were Uprising and The Great ’04 Slacker Uprising, but the film is not about any ‘uprising.’ It is about Captain Mike, as the new title so humbly states.

The film follows Captain Mike on his 2004 ‘Slacker Uprising’ tour, during which he visited college campuses in 60 cities in the waning days of the election campaign to “save John Kerry and the Democrats from themselves.” Moore’s aim was to convince college students who normally wouldn’t vote to get out to the polls. Along the way, his tour had a number of special guests, including REM, Viggo Mortenson, and Roseanne Barr.

Captain Mike Across America comes billed as, “One filmmaker’s failed attempt to change things.” We see Moore lecturing the press about how his films are the only place where Americans can find the truth about their government (the liberal crowd at the festival applauded, as expected). Moore gets in trouble with Republicans who claim that his give-aways of free clean underwear and Raman noodles to audience members who pledge to vote amount to bribes. Moore is condemned by dim-witted Republican protesters, who call him a communist and claim George Bush follows God (oh, those stupid Republicans!). Moore, Moore, Moore, Moore….

This is probably Moore’s least-compelling film from a cinematic point of view. It plays not so much like a movie, or even a concert film, as a highlight reel. The film builds little momentum as it goes along, and it has virtually none of the drama that characterized his previous films. The pacing essentially never changes. There are some good moments, including a genuinely hilarious scene where Moore offers up some alternatives to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads (“If John Kerry really loved his country, he would have died”), and if you’re a Moore devotee, you’ll find it mildly interesting, but if you’re not, there isn’t much to keep you riveted.

A fascinating film could easily be made about the Slacker Uprising tour (well, actually, one has – Manufacturing Dissent – but never mind). If Moore had concentrated more on the “Uprising” and less on the good ol’ ringleader “Captain Mike,” the film could have been a unique look at the future of America and a glimpse into the minds of its young citizens. Instead, Captain Mike Across America presents us with one nation, under Mike.