Where to Invade Next

Filmmaker Michael Moore, whose Fahrenheit 9/11 remains the highest-grossing documentary of all time, turns his attention here to contemporary humanitarian issues, particularly exploring how other countries handle problems. Beginning with an imaginary meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., activist Moore launches a travelogue “invasion” around the globe, looking into the subjects of vacation time, incarceration, education, drug decriminalization, the workforce, and women's rights. Moore finds an Italian couple enjoying their daily two-hour lunches and several weeks of government-mandated holiday, a French chef preparing nourishing school lunches for elementary students, rehabilitation-oriented Norwegian prisoners carrying keys to their private rooms, and Slovenian students receiving a free college education. Portuguese police officers don't arrest people for drug possession; in Tunisia (a Muslim country), abortions are government subsidized; and in Iceland—under first woman president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir—corrupt CEOs of failed banks were prosecuted and sent to prison. Moore never mentions that Italy has an unemployment rate more than double our own. Among other facts that he selectively chooses to ignore are Germany's current race relations dilemma, highlighted by its neo-Nazis and harsh treatment of Turkish immigrants, and the economic challenges confronting the entire European Union. Lacking the narrative urgency of his far more provocative earlier documentaries, Moore's new advocacy piece is at times interesting, but more often simplistic and superficial. Optional. (S. Granger)