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MOR Movie Reviews
Documentaries
Documentaries
Jesus Camp
Director: Heidi Ewig
2006
Rated: PG13
"Peeling Back the Fog of Fundamentalism"
a review by Erik Moore
This excellent documentary, famed for showing fundamentalist pastor
and presidential advisor Ted Haggard jest about infidelity on stage
during a church service shortly before his own secret gay trysts were
revealed by his partner, allows us to share in witnessing much of the
chilling indoctrination techniques that fundamentalists are using on
their children. We see Bush II practically idolized in cardboard form,
children being trained to crush the government with hammers and
surrogate cups labeled government. We see children being whipped
into emotional frenzy that paints around them a mythical world that
does two things: 1) it distracts, practically blinds them from the
pertinent questions our society is facing, and 2) it polarizes them so
heavily that any question about their faith can only be met with mindless
uncritical advocacy and socially demanded certainty. For the critical
viewer, this film allows us to see the raw hate and ideological
brainwashing that is masked in states of trained emotional rushes. Yet
for the believer, the film may appear totally different because the
director was careful to maintain a relatively objective stance, allowing
the people to speak for themselves in their most grand views of what
they want the world to become and how they want to convince their
children to make it happen. For the Christian fundamentalist, it may
appear to be merely a video of the things they revel in with only an
occasional annoying liberal talk radio show host.
www.jesuscampthemovie.com
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Howard Zinn, You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train
Directed by: Deb Ellis
2004
unrated
"Role Model: Advocate for Social Accountability"
A review by Erik Moore
This survey of Howard Zinn's life is an inviting journey along side some
of Zinn's most profound personal experiences as he does things like
negotiating for prisoners of the Viet Cong whuke at the same time
leading demonstrations against the war. It shows him informing
student activists in the civil rights movements and working today to help
people critically understand and hold accountable the governments
and individuals who claim formal power in societies. One of the best
revelations of the movie for those new to Zinn is that this man, one of
the most influential heroes of social justice, came out of the working
class urban neighborhoods, rode bombers in WWII, and worked for a
living making academia relevant and fruitful for the lives of all citizens. It
is well worth watching and has many inspirational excerpts from video
and audio recordings of Zinn's speeches. While not rated, this is a film
the whole family can watch and will give even young school children
deep insight into the world in which they live, insight that they don't often
get in their textbooks. Zinn's book, "People's History of the United
States, 1942 to Present" is an eye-opener to the personal responsibility
we each have in the forming of the societies we live in.
howardzinn.org
People's History of the United States
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Noam Chomsky, Rebel Without a Pause
Directed by: Will Pascoe
2003
unrated
"From Language to the Lingua Franca of Justice"
a review by Erik Moore
Noam Chomsky
This film reveals both the compassionate, caring individual, and the
critical mind that evolves from such a compassion for people when he
sees them duped by propaganda, language games, and government
and corporate control. Those looking for details of his linguistic
achievements must look elsewhere. But in seeing the way he exposes
the raw use of language for propaganda and the distortion of objectives
for "manufactured consent" we can understand the deep
understanding of language that Chomsky brings to the arena of social
discourse. For the average American, we can also begin to see the
broad effect that Chomsky has had on developing social justice and
accountability movements around the world. In this film, we gain insight
into the personal harmonics between Chomsky's keen critical thinking
and his warm heart for individuals, both those that he knows, and those
who are affected by the policies and actions about which he writes.
www.chomsky.info
The Chomsky Archive
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Sicko
Directed by: Michael Moore
Distributed by: Dog Eat Dog Films
June, 2007
Rated: PG13
"More that a Public Health Documentary"
a Review by Erik Moore
This is Michael Moore's best move to date, easier to watch than the
others even though it's dealing with a harder topic to address. Michael
more removes many of the blinders regarding our health care options
that have been placed on us by corporate media, the insurance agency,
and their lackeys in the current US government. We've been filled with
dread about government-based universal service, but the only thing
there is to dread is that a few highly connected executives and investors
would not be able to so easily suck vast amounts of profits out of a
government-run health care system. More travels the civilized world
(here not including America) discovering that FREE national health care
systems are loved by physicians, patients, hospitals, and all involved.
He also reveals the lies that are obvious and in the record when he
sold our health to people bent on minimizing and rejecting service for
even fully covered Americans, while totally discounting those who can't
pay. He shows that even countries like Cuba, that may not have the
resources that we do in the US, can readily afford to provide health care
to all. Further he exposes the terrible tragedies that occur in America
because citizens (who are paying vast amounts of tax dollars for
precious little consideration) must go into deep debt for unplanned
health emergencies, child care, higher education, and many other
services that are FREE, FREE, FREE, paid for by a sensible tax system,
in most other developed countries. The only reason we're not getting it,
the reason any injury or ailment could expose us to bankruptcy and
homelessness, is because of the vast power and greed of the
legislators, executives, and jurists who run this country. If you need a
motivator to begin changing government accountability, and placing the
needs of the citizen first to protect us against profiteering vultures, this
is it.
See: www.sickocure.org
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
An Unreasonable Man
Release date: 2006
Directors: Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan
"A Standard for Reason"
A review by Erik Moore
If one US person's application of sound reasoning in the US has saved
the lives of thousands from a violent and tragic death, that person is
Ralph Nader. While this movie focuses significantly, towards the end,
on the 2004 presidential campaign of Nader, the incredible lesson to
be learned from the film is in the early example of Nader. Before seat
belts and airbags were standard features of cars, the reasoning was
that the vast toll of physical human tragedy in the U.S. we suffer every
year do to automobile accidents was the exclusive responsibility of bad
drivers. Nader realized that the automobile industry was raking in vast
profits and taking none of the responsibility for safety, despite the fact
that auto manufacturers, more than anyone, had the ability to do
something about it. He demonstrated in the court system that reckless
design of motor vehicles is equally responsible for a vast number of
deaths as reckless driving. Bringing into accountability the people who
have the ability to improve our lives, the people who reap extra profit
from our misery and complacency, is a profound benefit to us all. This
film is an inspiration to all social movements trying to improve the lives
of people, helping to sustain our environment, and working to improve
social judgement. Nadar expanded this to many industries with his
Nader’s Raiders, and has spawned untold movements of
environmentalism, consumer advocacy, and citizen activism around the
globe. There are two other important points to be seen in this movie.
First, corporate powers responded to Nader’s approach by treating him
as an enemy, and he necessarily needed to adapt. So following Nader’
s initial approach precisely may be less successful at making
governments and corporations behave well, and improve. New
approaches and creative thinking are always necessary. Second, near
the end, Nader makes a profound statement, that allegiance is
meaningless, unless for a rationally sound purpose, that regardless of
organizational ties, and friendships, we all need to hold each other
accountable to do our best and to make good judgment, especially as
we serve in public roles, either corporate or government
anunreasonableman.com
www.nader.org
www.citizen.org
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Who Killed the Electric Car
Directed by: Chris Paine
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
August 4, 2006
Wake up and Smell the Coughing
a Review by Erik Moore
Who Killed the Electric Car is definitely a wakeup call that presents us
will significant evidence threaded into a compelling narrative, evidence
that our answer to air pollution, foreign oil, and the mega-corporate
stranglehold on energy production has been under our noses, with
viable clean transportation since at least 1996. The GM EV1 was an all-
electric car, not even a hybrid, that could meet the needs of most urban
commuters with a cool, responsive, economical, and environmentally
friendly design. One of the big messages is that corporations only
came up with this car because of government mandates. This is the
way seat belts, airbags, catalytic converters and other safety features
became part of the modern vehicle and not before. The EV1 was one of
several electric cars on the road in California, but once GM stopped
manufacturing them and worked with other corporations to gut the
strength of the California Air Resources Board that made the Zero
Emission Vehicle Mandate, the electric car disappeared from the
roads. Let's remember that if we bring these mandates back across
the US, state-by-state, we can get Zero Emissions Vehicles back
again. We don't have to wait for the pipe-dreams of hydrogen fuel
which would strap the citizens of the U.S. with a more centrally
controlled, more expensive, and more dangerous corporate chemical
commodity anyway. Perhaps Hydrogen will power a future generation's
economy, but electric cars could power this generation's, and already
have. Go to our Center for a Reasoning Society to help make it happen
in your state.
Who Killed the Electric Car
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Inconvenient Truth
Staring Al Gore
Directed by Davis Guggenheim
Paramount Classics
June 23, 2006
Al Gore
"A Study in being moved by Reason"
A review by Erik Moore
GO SEE THIS FILM!
This is THE most important film of 2006 and gets to the heart of the
trouble the U.S. has seeing things clearly, thinking rationally, and acting
responsibly in regard to the risks and threats we face on our own little
planet, including those self-caused. I highly recommend this film as a
piece of art containing a profound and overwhelming message about
the trouble each of us faces as we contribute to global warming by our
personal habits and our political choices. For those interesting in
reasoning, it is also a great example to study for methods of helping
people to latch on to sensible data and sound reasoning methods
when they form their world views and when they make their decisions
in life. This film is exploding with visceral hard evidence, and Al Gore
does a great job of bringing the urgency of global warming to a broad
audience and helps to push aside much of the intentional
misunderstandings that the oil money politicians, like the cigarette
money politicians, inject into our social discourse. Check out the site
affiliated with the movie:
climatecrisis.net
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Loose Change
By: Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, and Jason Bermas
Release to Google Video: August 16, 2006
Louder Than Words llc
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7866929448192753501
http://www.loosechange911.com/
“Considering the Manipulation of Modern Democracies”
A review by Erik Moore, 2006
A film that brings video and document evidence from 9/11 media
coverage and public record not only into obvious patterns of
contradiction with each other, but into obvious contradiction to the
portrayal that our government led us to believe and the 9/11
commission would have us accept. This film is the tip of the iceberg for
a huge body of evidence that supports the notion that the American
people were then and continue to be misled regarding the events of
9/11, and that this deception was invoked in order to make an
unnecessary war palatable to the American citizenry much in the same
way that a false portrayal of weapons of mass destruction were. The
difference, implicit in the films interpretation of evidence, is that 9/11
was not just a false portrayal, but a deliberately orchestrated
clandestine act that directly killed 3000 people. For all those who have
opinions about trusting governments and the need for actively
maintaining openness in society, this film is a must see. It is an
unusually strong voice of indie media that critically considers how
modern democracy can be manipulated covertly by people with large
corporate resources and control over the power of governmental
intelligence services, and how they intend to keep and wield this power
beyond open accountability.
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Similar videos/movies/text that deal with the issues of the dynamics of
modern industrialized capitalist democracy include:
Why We Fight, by the BBC
911 Mysteries - Demolitions
Lifting the fog of 911
The 9/11 Omissions Hearings
The Power of Nightmares by the BBC and Adam Curtis
Road to Guantanamo
Released 2006
Directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross
Rated R
Distributed by “Roadside Attractions”
Honesty about our own Inhumanity,
a review by Erik Moore, January 20, 2007
Here is a film that every voting American should see, despite and even
because of several hard to watch scenes which depict events that
American taxpayers are responsible for in the real world. It offers a
window into understanding the human toll exacted by policies like
extraordinary rendition, clandestine "justice", and the lowering of the bar
regarding the reasonable suspicion of guilt and the motivation to treat
suspects as if they were sub-human. This film presents the audience
with the plight of innocent British citizens of Pakistani heritage as they
are caught up in the Afghan war and eventually find themselves being
tortured and deceived by Americans who were following official policy.
This film must stand in as the voice for untold hundreds or perhaps
thousands who have faced similar treatment in secret prisons across
the world, prisons that are being run in the name of the American
voters. Justice can only work rationally when exposed to the light of
scrutiny. Yet it seems our government’s defensiveness has become
dark indeed, needing to hide especially from the verypeople who pay for
it lest we revolt against what is being done in our name. Even knowing
the direction of the movie’s plot, we feel the net of ideological fervor
wrapping around our protagonists as their good intentions and natural
youthful adventurousness become unbelievable in a world where
“terrorist” is the only acceptable answer to every question in the minds
of American interrogators. On a side note, even in New York we can no
longer assume kidnappings are something our government would
protect us and foreign visitors against. Canadian Maher Arar knows
that innocence is no protection against instant export-for-torture tactics
that seem to be becoming the standard practice of our government. If
we are to work towards democracy across the globe, we must work to
stop much of what our own government is doing in the name of the
“War on Terror.” This film is a wakeup call to the need for political
activism. We need to work to make our justice system start functioning
again and help America regain its moral authority.
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Director: Heidi Ewig
2006
Rated: PG13
"Peeling Back the Fog of Fundamentalism"
a review by Erik Moore
This excellent documentary, famed for showing fundamentalist pastor
and presidential advisor Ted Haggard jest about infidelity on stage
during a church service shortly before his own secret gay trysts were
revealed by his partner, allows us to share in witnessing much of the
chilling indoctrination techniques that fundamentalists are using on
their children. We see Bush II practically idolized in cardboard form,
children being trained to crush the government with hammers and
surrogate cups labeled government. We see children being whipped
into emotional frenzy that paints around them a mythical world that
does two things: 1) it distracts, practically blinds them from the
pertinent questions our society is facing, and 2) it polarizes them so
heavily that any question about their faith can only be met with mindless
uncritical advocacy and socially demanded certainty. For the critical
viewer, this film allows us to see the raw hate and ideological
brainwashing that is masked in states of trained emotional rushes. Yet
for the believer, the film may appear totally different because the
director was careful to maintain a relatively objective stance, allowing
the people to speak for themselves in their most grand views of what
they want the world to become and how they want to convince their
children to make it happen. For the Christian fundamentalist, it may
appear to be merely a video of the things they revel in with only an
occasional annoying liberal talk radio show host.
www.jesuscampthemovie.com
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Howard Zinn, You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train
Directed by: Deb Ellis
2004
unrated
"Role Model: Advocate for Social Accountability"
A review by Erik Moore
This survey of Howard Zinn's life is an inviting journey along side some
of Zinn's most profound personal experiences as he does things like
negotiating for prisoners of the Viet Cong whuke at the same time
leading demonstrations against the war. It shows him informing
student activists in the civil rights movements and working today to help
people critically understand and hold accountable the governments
and individuals who claim formal power in societies. One of the best
revelations of the movie for those new to Zinn is that this man, one of
the most influential heroes of social justice, came out of the working
class urban neighborhoods, rode bombers in WWII, and worked for a
living making academia relevant and fruitful for the lives of all citizens. It
is well worth watching and has many inspirational excerpts from video
and audio recordings of Zinn's speeches. While not rated, this is a film
the whole family can watch and will give even young school children
deep insight into the world in which they live, insight that they don't often
get in their textbooks. Zinn's book, "People's History of the United
States, 1942 to Present" is an eye-opener to the personal responsibility
we each have in the forming of the societies we live in.
howardzinn.org
People's History of the United States
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Noam Chomsky, Rebel Without a Pause
Directed by: Will Pascoe
2003
unrated
"From Language to the Lingua Franca of Justice"
a review by Erik Moore
Noam Chomsky
This film reveals both the compassionate, caring individual, and the
critical mind that evolves from such a compassion for people when he
sees them duped by propaganda, language games, and government
and corporate control. Those looking for details of his linguistic
achievements must look elsewhere. But in seeing the way he exposes
the raw use of language for propaganda and the distortion of objectives
for "manufactured consent" we can understand the deep
understanding of language that Chomsky brings to the arena of social
discourse. For the average American, we can also begin to see the
broad effect that Chomsky has had on developing social justice and
accountability movements around the world. In this film, we gain insight
into the personal harmonics between Chomsky's keen critical thinking
and his warm heart for individuals, both those that he knows, and those
who are affected by the policies and actions about which he writes.
www.chomsky.info
The Chomsky Archive
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Sicko
Directed by: Michael Moore
Distributed by: Dog Eat Dog Films
June, 2007
Rated: PG13
"More that a Public Health Documentary"
a Review by Erik Moore
This is Michael Moore's best move to date, easier to watch than the
others even though it's dealing with a harder topic to address. Michael
more removes many of the blinders regarding our health care options
that have been placed on us by corporate media, the insurance agency,
and their lackeys in the current US government. We've been filled with
dread about government-based universal service, but the only thing
there is to dread is that a few highly connected executives and investors
would not be able to so easily suck vast amounts of profits out of a
government-run health care system. More travels the civilized world
(here not including America) discovering that FREE national health care
systems are loved by physicians, patients, hospitals, and all involved.
He also reveals the lies that are obvious and in the record when he
sold our health to people bent on minimizing and rejecting service for
even fully covered Americans, while totally discounting those who can't
pay. He shows that even countries like Cuba, that may not have the
resources that we do in the US, can readily afford to provide health care
to all. Further he exposes the terrible tragedies that occur in America
because citizens (who are paying vast amounts of tax dollars for
precious little consideration) must go into deep debt for unplanned
health emergencies, child care, higher education, and many other
services that are FREE, FREE, FREE, paid for by a sensible tax system,
in most other developed countries. The only reason we're not getting it,
the reason any injury or ailment could expose us to bankruptcy and
homelessness, is because of the vast power and greed of the
legislators, executives, and jurists who run this country. If you need a
motivator to begin changing government accountability, and placing the
needs of the citizen first to protect us against profiteering vultures, this
is it.
See: www.sickocure.org
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
An Unreasonable Man
Release date: 2006
Directors: Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan
"A Standard for Reason"
A review by Erik Moore
If one US person's application of sound reasoning in the US has saved
the lives of thousands from a violent and tragic death, that person is
Ralph Nader. While this movie focuses significantly, towards the end,
on the 2004 presidential campaign of Nader, the incredible lesson to
be learned from the film is in the early example of Nader. Before seat
belts and airbags were standard features of cars, the reasoning was
that the vast toll of physical human tragedy in the U.S. we suffer every
year do to automobile accidents was the exclusive responsibility of bad
drivers. Nader realized that the automobile industry was raking in vast
profits and taking none of the responsibility for safety, despite the fact
that auto manufacturers, more than anyone, had the ability to do
something about it. He demonstrated in the court system that reckless
design of motor vehicles is equally responsible for a vast number of
deaths as reckless driving. Bringing into accountability the people who
have the ability to improve our lives, the people who reap extra profit
from our misery and complacency, is a profound benefit to us all. This
film is an inspiration to all social movements trying to improve the lives
of people, helping to sustain our environment, and working to improve
social judgement. Nadar expanded this to many industries with his
Nader’s Raiders, and has spawned untold movements of
environmentalism, consumer advocacy, and citizen activism around the
globe. There are two other important points to be seen in this movie.
First, corporate powers responded to Nader’s approach by treating him
as an enemy, and he necessarily needed to adapt. So following Nader’
s initial approach precisely may be less successful at making
governments and corporations behave well, and improve. New
approaches and creative thinking are always necessary. Second, near
the end, Nader makes a profound statement, that allegiance is
meaningless, unless for a rationally sound purpose, that regardless of
organizational ties, and friendships, we all need to hold each other
accountable to do our best and to make good judgment, especially as
we serve in public roles, either corporate or government
anunreasonableman.com
www.nader.org
www.citizen.org
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Who Killed the Electric Car
Directed by: Chris Paine
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
August 4, 2006
Wake up and Smell the Coughing
a Review by Erik Moore
Who Killed the Electric Car is definitely a wakeup call that presents us
will significant evidence threaded into a compelling narrative, evidence
that our answer to air pollution, foreign oil, and the mega-corporate
stranglehold on energy production has been under our noses, with
viable clean transportation since at least 1996. The GM EV1 was an all-
electric car, not even a hybrid, that could meet the needs of most urban
commuters with a cool, responsive, economical, and environmentally
friendly design. One of the big messages is that corporations only
came up with this car because of government mandates. This is the
way seat belts, airbags, catalytic converters and other safety features
became part of the modern vehicle and not before. The EV1 was one of
several electric cars on the road in California, but once GM stopped
manufacturing them and worked with other corporations to gut the
strength of the California Air Resources Board that made the Zero
Emission Vehicle Mandate, the electric car disappeared from the
roads. Let's remember that if we bring these mandates back across
the US, state-by-state, we can get Zero Emissions Vehicles back
again. We don't have to wait for the pipe-dreams of hydrogen fuel
which would strap the citizens of the U.S. with a more centrally
controlled, more expensive, and more dangerous corporate chemical
commodity anyway. Perhaps Hydrogen will power a future generation's
economy, but electric cars could power this generation's, and already
have. Go to our Center for a Reasoning Society to help make it happen
in your state.
Who Killed the Electric Car
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Inconvenient Truth
Staring Al Gore
Directed by Davis Guggenheim
Paramount Classics
June 23, 2006
Al Gore
"A Study in being moved by Reason"
A review by Erik Moore
GO SEE THIS FILM!
This is THE most important film of 2006 and gets to the heart of the
trouble the U.S. has seeing things clearly, thinking rationally, and acting
responsibly in regard to the risks and threats we face on our own little
planet, including those self-caused. I highly recommend this film as a
piece of art containing a profound and overwhelming message about
the trouble each of us faces as we contribute to global warming by our
personal habits and our political choices. For those interesting in
reasoning, it is also a great example to study for methods of helping
people to latch on to sensible data and sound reasoning methods
when they form their world views and when they make their decisions
in life. This film is exploding with visceral hard evidence, and Al Gore
does a great job of bringing the urgency of global warming to a broad
audience and helps to push aside much of the intentional
misunderstandings that the oil money politicians, like the cigarette
money politicians, inject into our social discourse. Check out the site
affiliated with the movie:
climatecrisis.net
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Loose Change
By: Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, and Jason Bermas
Release to Google Video: August 16, 2006
Louder Than Words llc
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7866929448192753501
http://www.loosechange911.com/
“Considering the Manipulation of Modern Democracies”
A review by Erik Moore, 2006
A film that brings video and document evidence from 9/11 media
coverage and public record not only into obvious patterns of
contradiction with each other, but into obvious contradiction to the
portrayal that our government led us to believe and the 9/11
commission would have us accept. This film is the tip of the iceberg for
a huge body of evidence that supports the notion that the American
people were then and continue to be misled regarding the events of
9/11, and that this deception was invoked in order to make an
unnecessary war palatable to the American citizenry much in the same
way that a false portrayal of weapons of mass destruction were. The
difference, implicit in the films interpretation of evidence, is that 9/11
was not just a false portrayal, but a deliberately orchestrated
clandestine act that directly killed 3000 people. For all those who have
opinions about trusting governments and the need for actively
maintaining openness in society, this film is a must see. It is an
unusually strong voice of indie media that critically considers how
modern democracy can be manipulated covertly by people with large
corporate resources and control over the power of governmental
intelligence services, and how they intend to keep and wield this power
beyond open accountability.
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Similar videos/movies/text that deal with the issues of the dynamics of
modern industrialized capitalist democracy include:
Why We Fight, by the BBC
911 Mysteries - Demolitions
Lifting the fog of 911
The 9/11 Omissions Hearings
The Power of Nightmares by the BBC and Adam Curtis
Road to Guantanamo
Released 2006
Directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross
Rated R
Distributed by “Roadside Attractions”
Honesty about our own Inhumanity,
a review by Erik Moore, January 20, 2007
Here is a film that every voting American should see, despite and even
because of several hard to watch scenes which depict events that
American taxpayers are responsible for in the real world. It offers a
window into understanding the human toll exacted by policies like
extraordinary rendition, clandestine "justice", and the lowering of the bar
regarding the reasonable suspicion of guilt and the motivation to treat
suspects as if they were sub-human. This film presents the audience
with the plight of innocent British citizens of Pakistani heritage as they
are caught up in the Afghan war and eventually find themselves being
tortured and deceived by Americans who were following official policy.
This film must stand in as the voice for untold hundreds or perhaps
thousands who have faced similar treatment in secret prisons across
the world, prisons that are being run in the name of the American
voters. Justice can only work rationally when exposed to the light of
scrutiny. Yet it seems our government’s defensiveness has become
dark indeed, needing to hide especially from the verypeople who pay for
it lest we revolt against what is being done in our name. Even knowing
the direction of the movie’s plot, we feel the net of ideological fervor
wrapping around our protagonists as their good intentions and natural
youthful adventurousness become unbelievable in a world where
“terrorist” is the only acceptable answer to every question in the minds
of American interrogators. On a side note, even in New York we can no
longer assume kidnappings are something our government would
protect us and foreign visitors against. Canadian Maher Arar knows
that innocence is no protection against instant export-for-torture tactics
that seem to be becoming the standard practice of our government. If
we are to work towards democracy across the globe, we must work to
stop much of what our own government is doing in the name of the
“War on Terror.” This film is a wakeup call to the need for political
activism. We need to work to make our justice system start functioning
again and help America regain its moral authority.
Review © 2005 Erik Moore, all rights reserved.
Page and Icons © Mission of Reason™ all rights reserved. Mission of
Reason™ is a non-profit corporation of the state of Colorado, U.S.A. Text
and images falls under the copyright of the author when indicated.
Reason™ is a non-profit corporation of the state of Colorado, U.S.A. Text
and images falls under the copyright of the author when indicated.
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