Powerful

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

When Bowling for Columbine premiered at the Cannes film festival last May it was the first documentary selected for screening in 46 years. The response was a special award and a standing ovation from the audience. As they did with his film Roger and Me, film critics and commentators will quibble over the legitimacy of the phrase "documentary" when applied to this film. Like Roger and Me this film is more social commentary than anything else. In the end, the debate is pretty silly. I often ask my film students to describe the difference between a documentary and propaganda. My answer? We make documentaries, and they make propaganda.This is clearly a documentary with a point of view, and it happens to be a point of view with resonance for me. It's easy to see this film as a diatribe on gun control, but the film is really much bigger than that. The real focus of the film is the American culture of fear and the real problem of violence in our society.The title refers to the fact that the two students responsible for the Columbine shootings went bowling before they began their massacre at Columbine High School. In the aftermath of Columbine, we were inundated with explanations for the shooting-video games, heavy metal music, lack of parental involvement, easy access to guns, and so on. Moore, with tongue firmly in cheek, suggests that maybe it's bowling that is responsible.The film alternates between moments of knee-slapping humor and gut-wrenching sorrow, but the question throughout is "why"? Why is American society so much more violent than other similar nations? While Moore clearly has some ideas on the subject, he doesn't settle for easy answers. Easy access to guns is clearly part of the picture, but Moore is quick to point out that 70% of Canadian homes have guns, but Canada has nowhere near the level of violent crime that we do. In his book, Confronting Crime, criminologist Elliott Currie makes a similar point. California and Canada are roughly similar in terms of population, but in one recent year California had more homicides by knives than Canada had by all means combined.Moore's satirical wit is evident throughout the film. One particularly funny scene occurs at a bank that offers free rifles when customers open new CD accounts. There is an animated sequence in the middle of the film on the history of the United States that is wickedly funny (in the tradition of Mark Twain). There is a segment from Chris Rock's stand-up routine that produces roars of laughter from the audience.The film is so provocative in terms of issues that it is hard not to watch through a strictly ideological lens. I'm not sure how to filter out my own ideological point-of-view, but count me among those who see this as a brilliant social commentary that moves freely between biting satire, hilarious parody, and poignant reflection on the state of the nation. This one is definitely worth a look (but please check your guns at the door).

I haven't watched this since it first came out. With all the terrible things happening these days I thought it would be worth a rewatch.I found some parts to be a little "staged", like when Moore confronts some of the celebrities involved it seemed like drama to enhance the movie, or when he puts the picture of the little girl on Heston's front step it seemed a little insincere. But other than that a very well done documentary and a very eye opening look at mass shootings in the USA.

Moore's Bowling for Columbine has been repeatedly toted as "one of the greatest documentaries ever made" as well as the most "important", and while I agree with the latter of those two, the film rarely attempts to answer all the questions it raises.The subject that the film covers is undeniably important and I respect Moore for pursuing answers to the immensely broad and complicated issue, even if it seems awfully hard for him to make his point clear. The film as a whole was certainly entertaining and amusingly funny, however I often found myself wondering when Moore was going to get to the point. In addition, Moore's methods are quite questionable. He constantly attempts to make people look bad, and while it's deserving for some, it seems like unfair harping for others. The questions he raised provoked my thought on many occasions, but he only sometimes provided satisfying follow-up. Bowling for Columbine was a regularly thought-provoking and often entertaining piece of satire that rarely managed to achieve the political potency it was so obviously aiming for. It was hard to tell when Moore was serious as his political and social antics usually felt unjustified or poorly thought out. Maybe I just don't get Moore's style of filmmaking, as this was my first time seeing his work, but the content displayed here would've been much more suited for a web-video than a feature-length film. Moore is determined to convince the public of the severity of this issue, yet won't take the time to share his message in a gratifying or cohesive manner.

Violence is a devastating aspect of our planet. America is one of the countries containing the highest number of gun violence, poverty, and fear professor Michael Moore examines. Never has a documentary been more critical or more entertaining than "Bowling For Columbine. Tackling all the following aspect of the American society such as gun violence, gun usage, violent behavior, how gun violence interferes with poverty, the NRA, the easy access to gun violence, and more. You'll realize how gun-crazy our country is when Moore walks into a bank of all places, only to come out with a shotgun he purchased and not a deposit. I scratched my head too. What's even more alerting is the number of people so loyal to killing machines and see it as a right to own an assault riffle. Moore isn't opposing the second amendment, he's moderating it. And boy do we need moderation. The gun-nuts out there are scary. With a fascinating look as to the purpose behind the tragic Columbine massacre that left nearly twenty teenagers dead, we shrivel as to the unknown reason as to why violence even happens in our country. There are countries who have more guns than us, but hardly .01% of the crime. Moore doesn't feed you sociology textbooks like any liberal teacher, he urges you to think and begs to find a reason. That's the beauty behind this guy, he doesn't give you answers. he gives facts, interviews, and reality. Never has an interview been more tense than when Michael sits down with former NRA leader Charleton Heston and debates over the wackadoo gun popularity. Paced beautifully with some humor that destroys extreme American views, then transforming to a depressed victim of gun violence, "Bowling For Columbine" informs us on where our society is going due to the outrageously tragic amounts of violence that shape our fear and other social issues including poverty. Story after story, fight after fight (including banning bullets from K-Mart), Michael Moore is a genius of documentary filmmaking and teaching.