Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer (WGA):

Michael Moore (written by)

Release Date:

2 October 2009 (Canada)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama

Plot:

On the 20-year anniversary of his groundbreaking masterpiece Roger & Me, Michael Moore's Capitalism:...

Plot Keywords:

Capitalism | Washington D.C. | American Dream | Nightmare | Deregulation

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Thora Birch	...	Herself
William Black	...	Himself
Jimmy Carter	...	Himself (archive footage)
Congressman Elijah Cummings	...	Himself
Baron Hill	...	Himself
Marcy Kaptur	...	Herself
John McCain	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Moore	...	Himself
Sarah Palin	...	Herself (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt	...	Himself (archive footage)
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Himself (archive footage)
Wallace Shawn	...	Himself
Elizabeth Warren	...	Herself

Also Known As:

The New Movie (USA) (promotional title)
Untitled Michael Moore Project (USA) (working title)
Capitalism - Sipur ahava (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Capitalismo - Uma História de Amor (Portugal) [pt]
Capitalismo - Una historia de amor (Spain) [es]
Kapitalismen - En kærlighedshistorie (Denmark) [da]
Kapitalismos - Mia istoria agapis (Greece) [el]
Kapitalismos: Istoria enos erota (Greece) (festival title) [el]
Kapitalismus: Eine Liebesgeschichte (Germany) [de]
Kapitalizem - Ljubezenska zgodba (Slovenia) [sl]
Kapitalizm: Bir ask hikayesi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated R for some language.

Runtime:

127 min | Canada:105 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45626) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | UK:12A | Finland:K-7 | Singapore:NC-16 | Ireland:PG | Norway:A | Portugal:M/12 | Japan:G | Australia:M | Netherlands:9 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Chevrolet Plants, Flint, Michigan, USA

Company:

Overture Films

Trivia:

Originally announced as a direct follow up to Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) after President Bush was elected to a second term, Moore gradually decided that the film would focus more on corporate America, until the 2008 financial crisis and resulting Wall Street bailout prompted Moore to rework the film again to center on that story.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The film depicts a boarded-up house in Bellington, WA; there is no such city in Washington state. It likely meant to say Bellingham, WA.

Quotes:

Michael Moore: I refuse to live in a country like this, and I'm not leaving.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Jay Leno Show: (#1.2)" (2009)

A well-made and informative expose of the tragic consequences of unregulated capitalism

Reading some of the other reviews of Capitalism: A Love Story, it soon becomes clear that those leaving low scores either haven't seen the film or have a particular agenda to smear the movie - one reviewer seems to think Angela Merkel's Germany (a centre right politician!) is 'Socialist'! It is this deliberate dumbing down in America of issues surrounding what capitalism is and does (as opposed to socialism) that enabled the conditions for the banks to exploit the worst off in American society and force the taxpayers to foot the bill by bailing them out - and why Americans are still without a universal free healthcare system. Moore takes great pains, and succeeds, in highlighting how this culture of demonising anything that criticises rampant and unregulated free market economics has been firmly established in US society. He has clearly undertaken a measure of research in the production - numerous sources/interviews and facts are used in the narrative - but the best thing for me was that he still manages to keep the more complicated aspects of banking and loans extremely accessible (I'm hopeless at maths!).

Comments that Moore is a socialist are extremely juvenile - Moore is a socialist in the same way that Ghandi was a terrorist or Jesus was a trouble maker.

All in all a very informative and inspiring documentary that dares to mention the elephant taking a big dump in the room.