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Bowling for Columbine

Starring: Michael Moore
Director: Michael Moore
Genre: Drama
Year: 2002
Rating: 4 / 5

As a country with thirty million people, owning in excess of seven million guns, why does Canada not have more gun-related deaths? With the same exposure to violent films and video games, ethnic diversity, and poverty, why are Canadians less willing to resort to gun-related crime than Americans? For that matter, why is the rest of the “civilized” world, with annual gun-related deaths ranging from double figures to a few hundred, lagging so far behind the United States, whose 11,000 annual gun-related deaths dwarf all competitors? Questions like these are tackled in Michael Moore’s thought-provoking docudrama, Bowling for Columbine. What he finds is a tangled web of questions without any clear answers, to say nothing of one of the year’s best films.

Michael Moore, writer, director, and producer of Bowling for Columbine, uses the 1999 Columbine murders as his starting point for tackling the issue of violence in America. From there, he travels backward to examine the impact of slavery on this country and forward to our nation’s reaction to the tragedy of September 11. All the while, the noted filmmaker pulls no punches in his examination of the roles played by corporate America, Hollywood, and the government in helping to shape our society. In so doing, he spotlights the notion of fear, how it has pervaded our very being for centuries and continues to influence our thoughts and actions. Yet why does it only seem to impact Americans? Why does the rest of the world not live in fear? Perhaps most importantly, what are we prepared to do about this situation?

Moore’s documentary takes us on a journey from Littleton, Colorado, to Flint, Michigan, and all the way to Hollywood, California. What would make two boys, ones who woke up early and completed their elective bowling class for the day, decide to open fire on their defenseless classmates? Or, as most Americans asked, who is to blame? Is shock rocker Marilyn Manson, a favorite musician of the troubled youths, to blame for inciting this violence? Are the boys’ parents to blame for not keeping their children on a tighter leash? Is K-Mart, who sold the deadly bullets for a mere seventeen cents apiece, at fault? Moore examines all possible factors, but, rather than assigning blame, he looks to enact change and understand how these situations can occur and what can be done to prevent them.

Bowling for Columbine is not your everyday cinematic fluff, even if the first half of the film is more humorous than serious. Moore’s effort has us laughing at the outlandish views of our fellow Americans, views we might not believe if they were not captured on film. Is our society this ignorant? Are we this naïve? Moore is not afraid to let us know what he thinks on the matter, even if fellow luminaries such as Dick Clark and Charlton Heston are less certain. In his quest for answers, Moore spares no one, least of all the viewer. We are along for the ride on his journey for truth, and we are forced to weigh the impact of his questions and his ideas, just as surely as we are forced to deal with the violence that has made our society what it is today.

Cast:

Certification: Rated R for language.
Running Time: 119 minutes.

Additional Info: Internet Movie Database
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