I’ve now seen this Michael Moore film twice. Each time, the crowd gave the film a round of applause at the end. (I can’t remember the last film I saw that received such a reception.)

It is worthy of applause. Unlike the dreck that Hollywood is producing, Columbine has humor, seriousness, and (in some scenes) a fierce honesty, as when Moore captures a home security consultant overcome by the “viciousness” of the shooters at the school, or the sadness of the principal at Buell Elementary, where a 6-year-old shot another 6-year-old.

Unfortunately, in other parts it can also play a bit fast and loose. Rather than interview the owner of the gun used in the Buell shooting, Moore ambushes Dick Clark with questions about welfare-to-work. It sure can be fun to see celebrities squirm, but in this case it didn’t feel true.

On the whole, though, these misgivings are a small part of an otherwise good film, and I must wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. We need more people like Michael Moore, asking important questions and sharing views in the movie theater. Here’s hoping more documentaries like this one get wide theatrical release.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 9th, 2002 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Film.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.