The Big One

After the success of the satiric documentary Roger & Me, the indefatigable Michael Moore makes another humorous attempt to physically critique corporate America. While his first film moved in a direction with a clear goal in mind, The Big One lacks any singular purpose. It is essentially a behind-the-scenes look at Moore's book tour for Downsize This!, interspersed with occasional unannounced visitations at various corporate headquarters and brief interviews with laid-off employees. There are glimpses of the labor and management conflicts in middle-American companies, but then it shifts back to the book tour shenanigans, with Moore trying to dodge his pesky media escorts (who are, in fact, working people, too) and cracking up audiences at book-signing appearances. Throughout the film, Moore is shown on-stage, delivering his amusing political commentary, certainly positioning himself as a celebrity icon. This star status is a curious position for Moore, who, as the champion of the underdogs, was more effective as the outspoken outsider in Roger & Me. The final corporate assault of the film is an interesting meeting with Nike CEO Phil Knight, but without any lead-in information, this hardly can be called a conclusion. While smart and funny, yet missing a clearly defined topic, the focus of The Big One lands on Moore himself, which would set the tone for his Bravo TV series The Awful Truth. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide