Movie Review - An American Carol

[ltstanfo]

First, a real review.

Now my take...

Everyone here knows that I am no fan of Michael Moore so it comes as no surprise that I was looking forward to seeing his on screen alter ego get some long overdue abuse.

Produced by David Zucker (Airplane, Scarey Movie) this film delivers lots of great visual gags but unfortunately, the entertainment gets overpowered by what might be described by some as a right wing diatribe (I cannot believe I just said that).

I was also impressed with the list of stars who play in this film:
Kelsey Grammer, John Voit, David Allen Grier, Leslie Nielson, Dennis Hopper, etc...

The story (such as it is) is simple enough... a modern day "scrooge" (Michael Malone) wants to cancel the Fourth of July and is visited by three ghosts (after being visited by JFK) - George Patton, George Washington and The Angel of Death. While each sequence delivers some great gags and even some funny satire, it gets lost in the constant underlying message which detracts from the overall entertainment of the film.

My rating (out of 10): 5

My favorite scene: It's a tie!
1. Dennis Hopper as a judge shooting ACLU zombie attorneys in his courtroom... I have a new respect for Hopper.
2. Trace Atkins as the "frickin angel of death"

My Least Favorite Scene: The subway scene where the film (unsuccessfully) tries to pound into our heads why the Patriot Act is a good idea.

All in all I have to agree Wayne... entertaining but forgettable.

Regards,
Ltstanfo

 

[Wayne]

Agreed. For all the same reasons we thought The Day After Tomorrow was "what happens when Greenpeace and the treehuggers make a movie", An American Carol is obviously a script written and supported by Extreme Republican conservatives who can't even be reached by extending a 10 foot pole in your right hand..

If Lee (our resident Republican defender of the faith) says it was full of "right wing diatribe", that should give you some idea of how extremely out there and on the fringe that it really was..

This movie was brought to you by the same people who believe that the president is pretty much infallible (like, say Jesus or the pope) and that you must accept the American Way as your own personal savior or perish in the fire and brimstone kinda folks.

Otherwise, like Lee said great cameos and several great sight gags but it just missed the mark completely for me. I would like to point out that Kevin Farley did a great job in the main role, but like his sadly-missed brother, needs to branch out before he gets typecast.

Wayne

 

[the_leander]

OT, but somewhat related to Wayne's post... I found out recently that my Dad worked on the Rainbow Warrior doing welding shortly before the french sunk her...

Back on topic, thanks for the heads up. I must admit I don't like films with that sort of overarching political message, be it DAT or others, so I guess I won't bother renting this one when it comes out.