The Big One (1997) presents itself as a spontaneous documentary of Michael Moore's outrageous adventures during the tour of his book, "Downsize This!" Moore does a good job of focusing on what's wrong in America- people work 60+ hours a week just to get by, profitable, productive factories closing to move to Mexico where workers are paid 60 cents an hour.
Unfortunately, for all of Moore's focused anger at corporate America, Moore doesn't offer much of a solution. When someone asks him why he didn't limit his book tour to union or non-corporate stores, he makes a joke about the success of his book changing his politics. Moore asks a corporate spokesperson if she thinks it's a good idea for the US to pass punitive laws against profitable corporations who export their labor to other countries. This is admirable, but I wish he had followed up on his own question.
In this film, Moore comes across as someone who has spent a lot of time focused on America's problems, but spends only a token effort in dwelling on potential solutions. This imbalance handicaps what could have been a sublimely entertaining, informative documentary. I expected information at the end of the movie about corporate ethics organizations like Corporate Watch (http://www.corpwatch.org) or information on how to start a labor union (http://www.aflcio.org). Alas, no such luck.
Despite its faults, The Big One (1997) is a must-see for anyone who believes 1) unions are corrupt; 2) corporations are corrupt; or 3) earns a salary of less than six figures a year.
