Michael Moore in TrumpLand

Dir: Michael Moore

2016

***

Michael Moore's Where to Invade Next was released early in 2016, a whole seven years after his last documentary Capitalism: A Love Story and the announcement that he would be releasing a film about the forthcoming 2016 American General Election just a couple of weeks before voting takes place, took a few people by surprise. However, the result wasn't what many people expected, or what fans had hoped for, for that matter. The title 'Michael Moore in TrumpLand' gave the impression that Moore would maybe go to a few of the now infamous Trump rallies and see if he couldn't try and reason with some of the supporters or maybe just film them saying stupid things with a few old archive clips to dissuade voters a little. No, Moore has an altogether different tactic. Moore has changed his approach somewhat of late and his style, which was becoming a little predictable to be fair, is different.  Instead of a stunt-driven documentary, Moore merely films a one night only stand-up routine that takes place in Wilmongton, Ohio, a City Trump is expected to win the vast majority of voters. This is the 'TrumpLand' of the film's title, also chosen due to the fact it is in Clinton County, which lends itself to a few obvious jokes. Moore starts the evening with a show of hands, who is voting for Trump, who is voting for Clinton, who is voting for a third party and those who haven't yet made up their minds. To call it 'Trumpland' is misleading, as it is clear that everyone is fairly represented and it is also clear that, apart from a couple of stony-faced white guys with their arms folded, that most of the attendees are Michael Moore fans. Moore doesn't really say that much about Trump in the end, he has had past dealings with both he and Clinton over the years and even says a few nice things about him but he clearly doesn't want the evening to turn into a bitch-fest, or indeed like a Trump rally. Instead, Moore explains why he doesn't like Clinton, why he admires her but why he has never voted for her. He then pretty much says that in this particular election, American's should vote for the 'lesser evil' (my words, not his). He goes on to state that voting for Trump could be seen as a protest vote, a two-fingered salute to the establishment but, using the UK's Brexit situation as an example, this would feel good but for a very limited time. This has since been taken out of context and used by Trump himself for publicity. Personally I think American's don't have much of a choice, I certainly wouldn't want either as my president and while I respect Moore gentle approach to the issue, I think it's too late, will fall on deaf ears and is just too softly softly for such a loud and vulgar campaign. Reason, fact and history seem to be ignored these days, it is now all about popularity, sensationalism, threats, lies, hate and a big slice of stupid. And I thought we had it bad in the UK. We seem to be entering the age of the stupid, so while I'm glad there are a few people like Moore spreading the good word, I just wish they'd speak a little louder. It's an interesting routine that reveals a lot I didn't know and isn't mentioned in the media but it all seems a little rushed and a bit short but then I suspect it was something put together in a hurry, probably due to the increase in Trump support. This could very well be a very interesting historical piece in a few years time.