Sicko Michael Moore Photo

Sicko

Starring: Michael Moore

Directed by: Michael Moore

RS: 3.5of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3.5of 4 Stars

2007 The Weinstein Company Documentary

Note to the president: Here’s your chance to lock up Michael Moore. The radically fierce and funny fireball he aims at our health-care system is a flat-out invitation to steal. First, Moore shows us how France, England, Canada and – yikes! – Cuba actually help sick people instead of letting them wither and die for lack of health insurance. Then he instructs us to loot those places for ideas. Anti-American? Hell, no. Moore argues that if another country builds a better car, we buy it. If it crafts a better wine, we drink it. Why not free universal health care?

As the agent provocateur of modern cinema, Moore is a moving target. Three of his docs (Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11) had the bad taste to be box-office hits instead of slouching quietly to oblivion like most documentaries. Look for the reform spirit of Sicko to spark fresh attacks from haters who smear Moore as a fat, shambling, condescending grandstander eager to shade the truth to force a laugh or simplify an issue. Back off, guys. For one thing, he’s dieting. For another, Sicko is a movie whose time has come, even if the Treasury Department is already on his case for illegally taking a boatload of lung-sick 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba for free medical care they can’t get at home. Another dumb move from the Dubya camp. While political candidates sidestep the real health-care issues, like puppets of the pharmaceutical industry that finances their election campaigns (take that, Hillary!), Moore brings a blunt clarity to the table. In an era when the mainstream news media have lost the public trust to Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, Moore’s brutally comic take on matters of life and death is just the ticket.

To prep for the film, Moore used the Internet to solicit health-care horror stories, not just from the 47 million Americans who don’t have insurance but from those who do. It’s hair-raising, especially when we watch an L.A. hospital dump a dazed patient at a homeless shelter because her insurance has reached its cap. In France, no resident is denied care; that’s why the World Health Organization ranks it number one (the U.S. is thirty-seventh). Moore, who shot 500 hours of film that he had to whittle down to two, puts a human face on those statistics. He traces the privatized health system back to Nixon, who figured, “The less care they give them, the more money they make.” He got that right.

Does Moore cut a few corners? Sure. Some of the European hospitals he visits might be spiffing up for the camera. The drugs an American patient buys in Havana (five cents there, $120 at home) might not be up to FDA standards. And maybe the French are pushing it by doing a patient’s laundry. But the weight of evidence Moore marshals for taking the profit motive out of medicine is overwhelming. In a summer of dumb, shameless drivel, Moore delivers a movie of robust mind and heart. You’ll laugh till it hurts.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Jun 13, 2007)

Your Turn

Give us your review of
Sicko

Review 1 of 30

1of 4 Stars

Ok, I know MM's rep, so seeing a movie that focuses solely on his opinion rather than both sides is no surprise, and I almost agree that any means is acceptable for bringing more attention to the sad condition of medicine in America today....

But can ANYONE tell me what is the HUMOR of this movie? Both Rolling Stone and the New York Times extolled how funny it was, on the cover of the DVD. Am I the moron for not getting the joke, or are RS and NYT the morons for not understanding that sick people in an somewhat uncaring system is not humor?

SERIOUSLY, I need help with this. I expected to laugh through my anger at the American Healthcare and Insurance industries; instead, I end up madder at MM and his reviewers than I do at the SUBJECT of this SO-CALLED documentary.

Guess it fits. The movie is as sick as the industry.

Dare I say it? Sicko sucks.

rottenrollin

Nov 17, 2007 17:43:21

Review 2 of 30

Not Rated

Sure it is evident that Mr. Moore is capitalizing on exploitation of corrupt institutions. This is America. We need to be deprogrammed. We are going into an information age and this documentary is just in time for it. LOVE your country. HATE and distrust the US Gov't. Now there's a start.

Nov 6, 2007 22:58:25

Review 3 of 30

Not Rated

I think Sicko does skirt around some of the minor "failings" of the Canadian, Bristish and French health system, however, it does not take away the main facts. If one is ill or requires hospital treatment in these countires, including Cuba, how much does the perosn pay...nothing. Then compare it with that of the US. Regardless of the slight failings, this fact cannot be ignored.
His comments on "we" as a pronoun used in these countries and in the US it is "I".
The breif debate below about the guy from Cuba nd the other attacking him for his comments serves to emphasize this. He arguement against the Cuban is that those earning $100k, why should they pay for those who cannot pay, for health insurance...and that's the point and the point of the film.
Everyone who has something in the US does not want to "give it" to those that have not.
As the UK and French helath systems point out, if you make those poeple who are unwell, better again, they actually cost the country less, not more!
How much of a saving would their be by reducing the illnesses and deaths related to smoking, by say just 10% in the US?...and then compare this against the cost of treating them to stop smoking. As you yanks say "do the math"...well the rest of the developed world has and countries like the UK and France have realised that it is cheaper to prevent than cure.
In the UK, all this is paid for by the tax system. It is automatically taken out of the salary of each worker. It is a fixed percentage of the amount you eran. So, if you earn a small amount, you pay a small amount. If you eran mega bucks, you pay more, but the percentage of your salary remains the same.
So, whether you earn $1m, $100k or just $1k, everyone pays.
What about those with no job, i hear you cry...and there is the difference. In the US it is the "I" factor again, not the "we".
We all carry the responsibility to look after our fellow man, as we will never know if we shall be in that situation in the future. If we are, we are gratefull for the support when we need it.
If you all think why should "I"...then you carry on dying for very minor problems at the rate you do for what....so you can have an extra car today or an extra plasam TV today. Rather than a healthy tomorrow.

Oct 14, 2007 17:47:49

Review 4 of 30

4of 4 Stars

Like all his work, thought provoking. Moore is the champion of the common man. How much more will it take to spur us to action?

As a physician I am sickened by the anti-patient behavior of our HMO's and PPO's, and we have as much to fear from the pharmaceutical manufacturers. Personally, I buy my meds from Canada. And guess what, they work fine for a fraction of the cost.

Aug 5, 2007 07:20:27

Review 5 of 30

4of 4 Stars

I wish there were a thousand Michael Moore's. 'Nuff said!

Jul 27, 2007 21:38:01

Review 6 of 30

4of 4 Stars

Peter Travers, your video review is splendid. Your enthusiasm
for the film fills my computer screen and reaches my heart.
SICKO is not anti-American, nor is it Moore grandstanding. Here
he lays out his facts in a moving, ironic, and even humorous
way. Moore is saying: wake up America! He urges us as a country
to be ethical, to reclaim cultural values, and embrace a more
humanistic outlook. Travers and Moore: four stars, highest
rating!

Jul 19, 2007 18:34:01

Review 7 of 30

Not Rated

Wow Diego11 you're really making yourself look like a nice guy and especially well educated!! I am so sick of hearing all this garbage about how horrible our country is and I am especially sick of hearing this from non-American citizens. If your country is so fabulous then why do you not have thousands of people fleeing there each year? Maybe you didn't hear but Our "redneck" president tried to give all illegal aliens amnesty - but hey, I can see how you're comparing him to Castro. On another note, as an emergency room nurse I can say that we have never turned down anyone who was in need of medical care whether they had insurance or not. Everyone right now has the opportunity to have health care, oh yeah, we just have to pay for it out of our paychecks. If we go to socialized care, we will still have to pay for it, but now it will be around 40% of our income. The truth is that the majority of taxes are paid by high-income earners. The top 10 percent of households those with incomes of $100,000 or greater - pay 70% of all federal income taxes. Did you know that the majority of families here in America are major consumers of government spending and they spend more of the tax dollars than they contribute? Let's not even get into the figures of those who contribute nothing to federal income tax. So let's keep taxing the rich so that these people who don't pay their income taxes can keep demanding more because they know they will never have to feel the burden of paying more taxes, they know it will just be handed to them at others expense. If you are so unhappy with America I would be more than happy to see you leave. You, who speaks so disgusting of a country that gives so much opportunity, and you who it didn't work out for(probably through fault of your own but insists on blaming all of your shortcomings on "dreadful" America) just leave this country to those who actually appreciate it. I have been to many different countries and can appreciate all of them for their beauty and diversity, but there is no place I would rather live then the United States of America!!

Jul 19, 2007 17:03:33

Review 8 of 30

4of 4 Stars

Listen to me u stupid anglo americans. u think that this is the greatest country in the world. keep telling urselfs that because in reality it is shit!!!! I immigrated hear from cuba with the illusion that this would be a fandtastic country, but I was wrong. I never had to mcuh of a problem with fidel and to toell u the truth, he is a better leader than ur stupid redneck texan leader. When I got here i was extremely surprised how people percieved cuba, how it was some shithole warzone. and I couldnt help but laugh at how the government approached my situation, saying it must have been so hard for you, and other sympathy bull shit!!!!!!!!! U are the assholes that made it so hard for cubans to get jobs or immigrate. U are the fucks that caused millions of cubans to struggle and become impoverished. Well FFFUUUCCCKK u. I came hear from a relatively good situation in cuba to miami looking to become more successful, but i came to a grim realization. shit is worse off hear than it is in habana. People are racist, hypocritical, and disgusting. and dont think it is just miami, i had worst experiences up north and in the west. That is why I am returning to cuba, to our beautiful beaches, better cities, and friendly people and unbeatable people. Perhaps i will try another move possibly europe, a place u people scrutinize yet in reality they have the greatest countries in the world! the proof is in the movie. to the other cuban reviewer, i will see u in habana. As for u other americans: Encular Pelotudo. Tu mama le gusta cogerse y chupar mi verga a la misma ves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bitches!

Jul 19, 2007 10:19:46

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