david-sarkies What does one do when one makes a bucket load of money from a movie were you whinge and whine about how progress has destroyed your home town, and you spend an hour and a half fictitiously chasing the CEO of a major corporation and make it appear on camera that he does not want to talk to you? - More of the same.Basically this film is about a book tour where Michael Moore travels across the United States holding signings and conferences about a book that he wrote called Downsize Me, and spends all of his time criticising Corporate America. Now don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of criticising corporate America because the nature of the system which is based on greed and on lining the pockets of a minority to the expense of the majority is something that needs to be criticised – it is just that I don't like it when Micheal Moore does it because it is becoming clear that the only reason he is doing it is because people pay him money to watch his movies and to read his books.The question that I have is what does Michael Moore do with all the money that he makes from these enterprises? I know I won't be able to ask him because he doesn't like to give interviews in exactly the same way that the CEOs he chases allegedly don't like to give interviews. I suspect the reason that he doesn't like to give interviews, and the reason that CEOs don't like to give interviews to him, is because they do not trust him and they do not know how he is going to manipulate the stock footage that has been taken of those interviews to his own advantage.Anyway, the whole idea of downsizing and moving to Mexico (or other developing countries) is a double edged sword. Manufacturing in America (and in Australia) is a dying industry because it is much cheaper to move it overseas. Further, the costs of setting up factories are so much cheaper because the laws that surround workplace rights and health and safety do not exist, and without tariffs, companies are simply going to behave like water, and that is move to where it is cheapest. Personally I do not like it, but that is the way it is happening. Basically in the modern democracy the unskilled labour is moving to the service industry, and skilled labour is going to a knowledge base (though workers in the construction industry are still needed because you simply cannot off shore them).Once again, it is difficult to tell what is true and what has been manipulated in this film. For instance, it is quite clear that the interview with Phil Knight has been edited to bits to simply show us that he does not care about the conditions of the workers in Indonesia, and that he does not want to open factories in the United States because people in the United States do not want to make shoes. However Knight is right when he says that people who are unemployed will say they want to do any job, yet it is also true that it is so much cheaper to employ people in Indonesia and import the shoes than to pay people in the United States to do it. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily the CEOs and executives that are doing this but the super funds and managed investments that are forcing the companies to do this because they want their returns and us, the people who hold the shares and who have financial stakes in those funds what our returns as well.

DICK STEEL One of the earliest Michael Moore documentaries made some 13 years ago, the angle at which he's pursuing here still holds a certain truth with regards to his relentless crusade against corporations, greed and corruption, asking the pointed question why lay offs are still required for major companies still turning in a obscene profits, and we'd get to see, on camera, how the corporate suit types unconvincingly wriggle their way out through canned messages. In other words, making them look stupid because they just can't say what they do in a straight face.As part of his book tour promoting his latest book Downsize This! across 47 cities in the United States in 50 days (grueling if you ask me), the film takes that one single question and goes on quite a predictable pattern where Moore would fly in the city, meet up with his respective Media Escort that Random House, his book publisher assigns, then try to pull off one of his in-your-face interviews as he and his camera crew marches into whichever corporation's HQ-ed in the city, before recounting his experience to a townhall audience, and showcasing scenes from his book signing where he gets to meet the man, or woman, on the street lining up to get his autograph, and of course to talk to the big guy, and lend their support to what he's doing.The Big One basically is a road trip film documenting his travels and what he does as he goes on that crusade against corporations, especially those which have recently announced profits, yet go through a large lay-off exercise. He brings volunteers on his rounds just to prove a point that they aren't lazy or choosy, and will work if given the opportunity to do so, even at minimum wage. It's not the least surprising how Moore, with his already growing reputation then, gets road-blocked time and again by security or middle management who get sent to intercept and entertain Moore, since the head honchos naturally prefer to sit in their comfy offices and avoid the heat.The surprise of course comes when Phil Knight, CEO of Nike, decides to grant him an audience on camera as well, though is nothing but tongue tied when questioned about his company's policy in locating their factory outside of America, and really side-stepping issues thrown his way. It's understood that nobody will like to commit anything without careful thought, but it sure does take the cake when witnessing these men, who make handsome profits, finding their rationale and excuses all shot down soundly, since their sole pursuit is undeniably, to keep making more money for their shareholders. But unlike Roger & Me, Moore gets fairly successful here in putting someone who's a somebody, on camera.In some ways The Big One plays out like a comedy since there's plenty of stand-up moments where Moore entertains the crowd with jokes and making light of some really serious bread and butter issues regarding people's livelihood. Singapore's mentioned twice in the film, early on when Moore talks about how McDonald's gets money to promote McNuggets here, and the other when he offers Phil Knight a trip to Indonesia via Singapore Airlines no less. But I suppose if the same issues were to be discussed and addressed here in the same approach Michael Moore does, there's no doubt what will happen to the local filmmaker.While the war is not won in one film, at least the little battles the everyday man go into, which gets tracked and documented in Moore's film, does show a ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak Inc. world we live in.

dee.reid From the back of the DVD cover of "The Big One": "If Fortune 500 companies are posting record-setting profits, why do they continue laying off thousands of workers?"That's the fundamental question this movie poses to the viewer.In "The Big One," filmmaker Michael Moore goes on a Random House book tour promoting "Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American." In a hilarious whirlwind tour across the United States that takes him from Milwaukee, to Philadelphia, to Ft. Lauderdale, to Rockford, to Des Moines, to Harvard University and finally to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, Moore asks that fundamental question while also exposing corporate corruption and callous politicians in the Clinton-era America of the mid-1990s, and also playing good-humored pranks on the assorted media escorts hired to keep him out of trouble.Moore's book tour travels are mixed with blazing stand-up comedy and visits with out-of-work or soon-to-be out-of-work employees at these major companies that are making record-setting profits but continue to lay off their workers, when they should be hiring more workers. He also talks clandestinely with employees at a Des Moines Borders who were forced out of a book-signing and also had money being taken out of their paychecks to pay for a doctor as part of an out-of-state health care plan. These same workers were also trying to organize a labor union.He also meets a woman at a book-signing who was laid off earlier that day and she wanted desperately to meet him. We are also quite startled to learn that TWA has found cheap labor in prison convicts for their phone-answering services. At the end, he's granted with his first (and only) interview with the C.E.O. of Nike, which has a company in Indonesia that hires underage workers. Moore offers numerous challenges to which the chairman turns them all down - exposing his callousness and greed - and the C.E.O. finally caves to donate $10,000 to Flint, Michigan's struggling school system."The Big One" is perhaps Moore's most underrated feature. Of course the film seems like a time capsule 11 years later since corporate downsizing and corruption have taken a backseat to terrorism, America's simultaneous conflicts with terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the global War on Terror. But I also have to say that "The Big One" is perhaps Moore's funniest film to date (my personal favorite is his 2004 anti-Bush "Fahrenheit 9/11," and I have yet to read "Downsize This!"). But underneath the biting comedy, there is also a strong sense of anger and sadness that Moore delivers with some pretty strong passion. Some bits of "The Big One" are just downright depressing. He knows something's wrong with all the big corporations that continue making record profits but lay off the workers when they should be hiring more.While the movie is incredibly funny, Moore has been criticized for not offering solutions to all the people he encounters. The answer is simple, he just doesn't have any. There's nothing he can do to change the minds of greedy executives who would send jobs abroad rather than keep them here in America because they don't have to pay the workers as much. He's only one man who has been the ire of corporate America for nearly 20 years now, and it doesn't seem like he's any closer to winning his crusade."The Big One" is Moore's "Big One," all right, full of humor and satire aimed at his one true enemy, corporate America. It's not his best movie, but it proves that he still has the ability to expose corruption everywhere he sees it and show us that something is indeed wrong in this Land of the Free.10/10

Nick Lucchesi Michael Moore's The Big One is a typical Michael Moore documentary. By this post-Bowling for Columbine and present Fahrenheit 91I time period, much of America and the world know of Moore's feet first documentaries. With Moore becoming the funnier Mike Wallace of the '90s and shoving a microphone in the face of corporate and political bad guys at every turn, Moore again stirs up the corporate status quo in The Big One, released in 1998. The film covers the most threatening aspect to the American way of life at the time: corporate downsizing. The setting is the Midwest and Moore travels to small midwestern cities, most often the ones hit hardest by the factory closings and layoffs of the late '90s. While not as focused or even as serious as Moore's most recent efforts, this film is still reminiscent to his others in that it is both funny and thought provoking.Most likely unintended by Moore when filming, this film feels more like a time capsule than anything else. While factory closings and layoffs have continued into the 2000s, the impact the closings of the'90s had on America are far greater than the layoffs of today. A documentary on corporate downsizing today would be lost amongst the far more serious issues of U.S foreign policy and all it is related to, including terrorism, the Patriot Act and homeland security, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Factory closings and plant layoffs in exchange for higher corporate profits are an important issue, but when viewed six years later, this film seems almost insignificant.The Big One covers American politics as an extension of corporate America in that both elite politicians and elite CEOs are essentially the same type of person. In one segment, Moore covers the most recent presidential campaign, and in a series of interviews, many people say that they refused to vote because both candidates in 1996 were the same person; the only difference was their political party name. Today, America is so polarized politically that the idea of refusing to vote based on the fact that the candidates are too similar is not only incorrect, but also outlandish. However, one must remember that Moore was first a journalist, and his films are news-based, and by the hand, are not meant to have the longest of shelf lives. At their best, they are perfect time capsules of various issues facing America at a certain time period.Moore is highly visible in this film as he was in 1989's Roger and Me, only using his interview subjects to further his story and cause. While he does allow the characters to speak for themselves, they are only backing up his claims and not necessarily adding any more to the film than mere quotes. Moore's feelings and political motives are what make up this documentary, and they come through 100% to the viewer as Moore makes a convincing case for his cause.The film's use of humorous stock footage, broadcast news reports, and stand-up comedy scenes with Moore behind the microphone make for entertaining segments that either divert the viewer from the story and provide for some comic relief, or conversely, further the story when the footage has a sharp political undercurrent. Moore's juxtaposition of serious-minded news reports as the build up with one of his narrated comments as the punch line are entertaining and part of what make his documentaries fun to watch as well as informative. The Big One, while it does not necessarily have as solid of a story as Moore's other films and may be criticized for coming off as a 90-minute commercial for Moore's book, Downsize This, does manage to string together a few interviews with humor and a serious issue to effectively promote Moore's cause. Although we know Nike CEO and Moore interviewee Phil Knight would never put a Nike shoe factory anywhere in the US, much less in Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan, the fact that Moore asked Knight to do so concisely summarizes Moore's message and wish: that US-owned companies stop closing factories and outsourcing to cheaper foreign markets and start giving US workers their jobs back. Anyone who has taken an international business course or even perused the Wall Street Journal knows outsourcing will continue. Moore's ability to increase the public's awareness is his best trait as a filmmaker, not his attempt to single handedly change the entire face of US and international business.The soundtrack, like other Moore films, is mostly there for humorous purposes. Moore lets the most serious moments in his films go without any sound other than the person weeping or ranting for maximum effect. That being said, his use of humorous songs including Americana classics pace the film and add to its quick nature. Moore only uses scene titles sparingly, as his narration divides the film verbally. The use of scene titles is not necessary when Moore is walking his viewers through the film.Funded by the British Broadcasting Company, Moore's budget is much more than his contemporaries', but even a large budget cannot save this film. His choice of story topic is not lasting enough to appeal to viewers not living with the economic divisions between rich and poor of the late 1990s. Also, if Moore had let the story lead him to various locations across the country instead of his book tour navigating, maybe he would have found out more information and created something better than The Big One. Additionally, perhaps if Moore had narrowed his ideas of what he wanted to cover before he started filming ('The Big One' refers to the US as the 'big' country) instead of attempting to cover American politics, the economy and sagging social standards all in one 90-minute documentary, his ideas would have came across even clearer than they already do. This is where Moore succeeds in his later films, especially Bowling For Columbine, which strictly focuses on a single issue with minimal sidebars.Sources of tension in this film go from the comedic sources ('media escorts,' i.e. middle age blonde women who cannot handle Moore's independent spirit) to the most serious ones (the US government and big business). He tries to grapple too much in The Big One, and that is where this film ultimately fails.