Where to Invade Next

I gave this movie a 7 (hesitated with 8) because it is a good film. It is funny, entertaining, it shows things that are true. Something that is nice is that it seems also that Moore tries to show as many countries as possible, even countries that some people might feel are "forgetable", etc.

The reason why I do give a lower mark is that it is a film that is really made for a US audience. Having spent a good deal of time in North America I can completely understand why he tries to make it so that the ideas shown and expressed in the film are as "American" or "American born" as possible, but when you're from someplace else, and when you know more about history or such things in general, it seems just a bit annoying that they try to make some ideas that are pretty much universal, or just not American, as American as possible. The ending is also quite cliché, but it just reflects and intensifies the previous comment. it's actually because of the very-patriotic-to-get-republicans-to-listen ending that i decided to give this movie a7 instead of an 8.

for non us viewers I would say that you can just skip the last 15 minutes, but that the rest is great

If you are at all interested in six weeks of paid vacation, an extra month's salary and a two-hour lunch break, you just might have to go to Italy to find it. Filmmaker Michael Moore ("Capitalism: A Love Story," "Sicko"), a welcome voice for sanity, returns to the big screen in his first film in seven years to tell us that perks like this exist, just not in the United States. His latest documentary, Where to Invade Next, is a satiric look at what much of the world has to offer that is not available here. Underneath all the wit, however, the film has a serious purpose, calling our attention to what works and what doesn't work in society, regardless of what may be considered the "right" thing to do and the label you might put on it. In simple terms, so-called American exceptionalism is often not as exceptional as most people think.

Though the title of the film may suggest an exposé of the government's penchant for endless war, Moore has something else in mind. His intention is to show how other nations treat their citizens in the workplace, schools, and prisons, including their attitudes towards women and sex, leaving it to the viewer to make comparisons. In the opening scene, a tongue-in-cheek Moore is summoned to appear before the Joint Chiefs of Staff to offer his advice on how to stop losing wars. His suggestion is to allow him to conduct the invasions from now on, pledging to do better. Taking his camera crew to Italy, France, Finland, Slovenia, Tunisia, Portugal, Iceland, and Germany, he interviews workers, teachers, students, CEOs, government officials, and ordinary folks who tell him about the advantages they have.

When he departs the country, he makes sure to plant the American flag to signal his success in stealing its ideas. Though Moore's bewildered, "are you kidding me?" shtick becomes a bit tiresome by the end, it mostly suits the "wow" nature of what he uncovers. In Italy, the wide-eyed director can only shrug his shoulders when he hears from young workers that they have thirty to thirty-five paid vacation days a year, not including holidays, paid maternity leave, or a paid honeymoon. Seeking an explanation for this, he turns to the CEO of a motorcycle company who tells him that the happier the workers are, the more production they achieve and hence the more profits for the company, though Moore does not discuss the overall economic problems of the country.

In France, Moore teases us by taking us to what he calls a gourmet five-star restaurant in Normandy only to reveal, much to our calculated astonishment, that we are in a typical school cafeteria that serves five-course meals, planned each month by the school and city representatives. Eating with the students, he offers one girl a can of coke but is summarily rebuffed. In looking at Finland's school system, Moore discovers that students have no homework and more free time to socialize and enjoy time with their families. He learns that Finland has no private schools so that the community is dedicated to making the public schools work.

According to Moore, Finland's school system has risen from the depths to become number one in the world.

From there we travel to Slovenia (not to be confused with Slovakia) which has a free university system, especially inviting for foreign students, to Germany where factory workers toil 36 hours a week while being paid for 40 hours. Oh, yes — if they get too stressed, they can go to a spa at company expense to work it all out. Pausing for a serious look at how one country deals with its unpleasant past, Moore explores how educators and students confront the Holocaust in Germany, even though it is uncomfortable to face.

In Norway, we see how prisoners are treated as human beings, even mass murderers like Anders Breivik, even though Breivik has threatened to go on a hunger strike because of what he claims are "deteriorating" living conditions — isolation from the other inmates and allowing only contact being with health care workers and guards. While the energy sags a bit in the last two segments in Portugal and Iceland, Where to Invade Next delivers a sharp, meaningful message though not as impactful as Moore's earlier work. Contrary to his critics, however, it does not disparage America, but suggests that a great people can be even greater if they are willing to learn from others.

There are many words one might use to describe filmmaker/documentarian Michael Moore and 'preachy' might just be one of them. His films, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Sicko…were all highly entertaining and even educational for the peripherally blind. But Moore had lost his fun side. There were moments of levity in each of his films but the humor on display in his first feature Roger & Me had been replaced with a political or prejudice view Moore hoped to express.

Moore's latest documentary, Where To Invade Next takes us back to the fun and wit that made his earlier work so refreshingly entertaining. In this his eighth feature documentary (but first in six years), Moore travels to Europe where he visits countries that seem to have captured the American dream of a work/life balance. We travel with Moore to Germany where we find small companies who pay big wages, to Italy where employees are given more weeks annual vacation than an American can hope for over a five year period and to Slovenia which offers free university tuition. Moore then presents a mock 'invasion' of the country which is presented in a hilarious tongue-in-cheek style of filmmaking.

The presentation does not feel preachy nor does it appear anti-American. Instead, Moore is able to casually walk the line of presenting lifestyles, politics and privileges in other countries that American's dream of or have tied up in political limbo. That's not to suggest that Moore doesn't show the underbelly of the giant. The European way of life may not be sustainable in the long term due to the expense of the support. And Europe is still not without its issues to which Moore is quick to point out to rousing audiences.

A tad overlong at 2 hours, Where to Invade Next is arguably Michael Moore's most enjoyable film. We are not looking at the ravages of the auto industry on Flint Michigan or how sick individuals are denied health care. Here, we take a jovial look at the things that look like a shopping bag of perfect put into a soggy paper bag about to collapse. Moore has an energy and an enthusiasm here that he hasn't shown in years and the results had the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival up off their seats in lauding applause at the conclusion of the screening.

http://theintestinalfortitude.com/

Just like Mr. Moore's previous works, brilliant, raw and based on the truth and statistics. The contrast was overwhelming and sickening but he finished it on a positive note. That if only we realize we, the people, realize we have all that it takes, we can bring the wall down, one hammer and chisel at a time. But as one of the guys in the movie said we have "a long way to go". He covered all the relevant issues of our today's society, from women's equal pay to nutrition, from student loans to bankers getting away with murder, from criminalization of drugs and its connection to race to police brutality, from an overworked and underpaid society to disappearance of middle class, from capital punishment to mistreatment of the incarcerated, and more....It is eye-opening and educational, to say the least and makes you wonder why we we "go home and are okay" with all of this. Because "nobody should be".

Anyone one voted under a 7 did so out of a bias anger..What this movie shows it how The USA attitude of were are the greatest county in the world just isn't true anymore.The basic things..Diet,education,Health Care..The Justice system has all failed in the USA.We simply do not have the best of any of these things anymore...I don't understand how this movie is sailing in under the radar with out much publicity..I was alone in the theater when I saw it,that is no one else was there..it was empty.I thought I might get bored but found myself amazed by what I was seeing.I wanted to run out and tell everyone what I just saw.I would like to make this point I work at a USA college admissions office..Once in awhile someone would come in saying they had a college degree in another county could they transfer any of it here..it was always met with a resounding "no"..I asked why..do they have less elements on their periodic table? it made no sense and seemed to boil down to not spending money here in the USA..I had the privilege of going to a small catholic grade school where little old Italian ladies made us lunch everyday..So I always ate well..somehow in the years since that went away...who knows why..