This even-handed effort simply doesn't probe deep enough.
Manufacturing Dissent (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:23
Fresh:12
Rotten:11
Average Rating:5.2/10
Theatrical Release:05-10-2007
Synopsis: Michael Moore has made a career by turning his camera on prominent people and asking them discomfiting questions about hot-button political issues in which they're involved. He's made them squirm... Michael Moore has made a career by turning his camera on prominent people and asking them discomfiting questions about hot-button political issues in which they're involved. He's made them squirm and look foolish, extracting some striking answers along the way. Now the tables have turned, and Moore has become the subject of a film that questions his tactics and approach to political film-making. This documentary, made by two Canadians, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine, former fans of the politically charged Moore, takes a critical look at his techniques, from his editing process to his use of "out of context" information. They offer a different side of the man who has been hailed by the left as a pivotal force in swaying the public's opinions about the key issues of the day. [More]
Starring: Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Errol Morris
Starring: Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Errol Morris, Albert Maysles, John Pierson
Reviews for Manufacturing Dissent
With a wide-ranging array of interviewees and an amusingly Moore-like approach to its subject, Manufacturing Dissent is an enjoyable documentary, whether you're pro-Moore, anti-Moore or indifferent.
Exposes a paranoid personality, testy with his critics and bullish about his methodology.
Moore's reputation as a brilliant polemicist takes a knock or two, here. But it's still very much upright.
A few serious points against Moore's credibility are overshadowed by a lot of dull posturing, unconvincing argument and unpleasant interviews. It's nothing like as good as the films made by the man it maligns.
The problem in making a documentary about Moore, though, is that it probably won't be as interesting as a documentary made by him, even if his techniques are used.
Some of the accusations in this documentary by a pair of Canadian filmmakers who initially set out to make a positive portrait, will make your eyes water.
The big question you have to ask yourself is: do these dishonest work practices actually undermine the message he's trying get across? The answer is probably not… because Moore is already preaching to the converted.
This hugely entertaining documentary turns Michael Moore's filmmaking style back on himself to separate the facts from the rumours. It's not a hatchet job, but Moore doesn't emerge unscathed.
A solid, well-done and seemingly balanced look at Moore's work, his celebrity, his methods and the ethical problems in his reporting.
There’s little to disagree with in the thumbnail portrait of Moore that emerges from this entertaining doc.
Too bad co-writers/co-directors Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine don't investigate -- and ingratiate -- the way their target does in his own films.
Manufacturing Dissent comes across less as an expose of a polarizing public figure than as the realization of a personal and not especially interesting grudge against a once-admired colleague who has moved on to bigger things.
Though much of what’s in the film isn’t new information, seeing it all compiled in one place and building to its damning argument against Moore is effective and disturbing.
While Manufacturing Dissent provides little that is new, it does place the controversy in the larger context of the contradictory relationship between the pursuit of fame and journalistic integrity.
Manufacturing Dissent seems disingenuous at times and just plain stupid at others.
Caine and Melnyk’s film is intent in questioning such legitimacies, which it does well; it’s just as propagandistic as a Michael Moore film, but not as entertaining.
Manufacturing Dissent seeks to criticize Michael Moore's documentary tactics, while simultaneously using those same tactics unsuccessfully in the creation of the film.
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