ROGER AND ME. Directed, written and produced by Michael Moore. Starring Michael Moore. Rated R.
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Most moviegoers see documentaries rarely, if at all. This may change after Roger and Me. But, then, this movie is not your usual documentary.
It's instructive, certainly, and has a definite point of view. The people in it are real people, not actors; even if they are celebrities (Pat Boone, Bob Eubanks, Miss America, etc.)—they're being themselves, not playing a part.
But there's also a narrative structure to the movie that, although fluid, is fiction-like, with good guys, bad guys, and even a little suspense. And, last but not least, Roger and Me is funny—satirical, always with a point in mind, and sometimes downright macabre. But it's definitely a funny movie, the way most documentaries are not.
Roger and Me tells parallel stories.
The main setting is Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan, where General Motors was born, but where thousands of jobs have recently been lost because of GM plant closings. The Roger of the movie's title is the other story, as Moore tries to interview GM Chairman Roger Smith about the layoffs.
Both sides of the story play well. The images and interviews in Flint are funny, tragic, moving and curiously upbeat. Moore's ever-frustrated attempts to talk to Smith are amusing, too, but with an undercurrent of righteous anger.
The rating for Roger and Me is all wrong, and in the opposite direction from the usual wrong ratings.
Kids probably wouldn't like the movie too much, but there's very little in it that's inappropriate for them.
A family who's being evicted, for example, puts some harsh language on the soundtrack, but it's understandable considering the circumstances. PG-13 would have been a more accurately descriptive rating.
Another point. There has been some criticism of Moore's methods as he apparently plays a bit fast and loose with some facts and dates. Such manipulation of reality is a major no-no in a true documentary, which is, after all, closely related to news reporting.
What Moore has created, though, in Roger and Me, comes considerably nearer to art than to journalism. And in matters of art, we can be much more lenient about such details.
February 28, 1990