Bowling for Columbine

Point for point, I agree with almost everything mordant muckraker Michael Moore (Roger and Me) says in this scathing Oscar-nominated documentary about gun violence in America. But pardon me if I shoot the messenger (ooh, the horrible pun!) for his propagandist approach to the subject, which comes close to crippling his credibility. Inspired in part by the 1999 school shootings in Colorado that lend the film its title (the teenage gunmen went bowling before their attack), this film is a potent, uncomfortably funny, and sometimes profound bully-pulpit examination of the extent of our nation's propensity for violence, and a quest for the problem's roots. But Moore's zealous indignation is scattershot and his methods are often questionable, as when he harasses American Bandstand's Dick Clark in a segment about an elementary school killing, because Clark is a major shareholder in a restaurant that the shooter's mother traveled 80 miles a day to for a minimum wage job in a welfare-to-work program. Had she made a living wage, Moore argues, and worked closer to home, the kid wouldn't have been at his uncle's where he found the gun. And that's Dick Clark's fault, how? Still, despite the flaws, Bowling for Columbine is a thought-provoking film that is bound to spark debate and deserves a much wider audience on home video. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a four-minute audio intro by filmmaker Michael Moore (over stills), audio commentary (with an intro by Moore) by more than a half dozen Bowling-related receptionists and interns, a 15-minute discussion with Moore on his controversial Oscar win and acceptance speech, a 25-minute featurette with Moore speaking at the University of Denver six months after the film's release, a 17-minute film festival scrapbook with awards and interview clips, a 21-minute interview of Moore by Clinton Administration press secretary Joe Lockhart at HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, a 25-minute interview with Moore from The Charlie Rose Show, the music video for Marilyn Manson's 'Fight Song,' a staff and crew photo gallery, a DVD-ROM accessible teacher's guide with lessons and activities, 'Mike's Action Guide' weblink, and a trailer. Bottom line: an excellent extras package for this 2002 Oscar winner for Best Documentary.] (R. Blackwelder) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—June 26, 2018—Criterion, 120 min., R, DVD: 2 discs, $29.95; Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its debut on Blu-ray and latest appearance on DVD, 2002’s Bowling for Columbine features a fine transfer with DTS-HD 2.0 audio on the Blu-ray release. Extras include the new 'making-of' featurette 'Michael Moore Makes a Movie' with the director (35 min.), a 2002 Charlie Rose Show excerpt (25 min.), the featurettes 'Moore Returns to Colorado' (25 min.), 'Oscar Speech' (13 min.), and 'Film Festival Scrapbook' (12 min.), a 2000 segment from Moore’s The Awful Truth series on 'Corporate Cops' (7 min.), and an essay by critic Eric Hynes. Bottom line: a fine edition of a documentary that feels more sadly relevant than ever.]