User reviews

If you are at all interested in six weeks of paid vacation, an extra month's salary and a two-hour lunch break, you just might have to go to Italy to find it. Filmmaker Michael Moore ("Capitalism: A Love Story," "Sicko"), a welcome voice for sanity, returns to the big screen in his first film in seven years to tell us that perks like this exist, just not in the United States. His latest documentary, Where to Invade Next, is a satiric look at what much of the world has to offer that is not available here. Underneath all the wit, however, the film has a serious purpose, calling our attention to what works and what doesn't work in society, regardless of what may be considered the "right" thing to do and the label you might put on it. In simple terms, so-called American exceptionalism is often not as exceptional as most people think.

Though the title of the film may suggest an exposé of the government's penchant for endless war, Moore has something else in mind. His intention is to show how other nations treat their citizens in the workplace, schools, and prisons, including their attitudes towards women and sex, leaving it to the viewer to make comparisons. In the opening scene, a tongue-in-cheek Moore is summoned to appear before the Joint Chiefs of Staff to offer his advice on how to stop losing wars. His suggestion is to allow him to conduct the invasions from now on, pledging to do better. Taking his camera crew to Italy, France, Finland, Slovenia, Tunisia, Portugal, Iceland, and Germany, he interviews workers, teachers, students, CEOs, government officials, and ordinary folks who tell him about the advantages they have.

When he departs the country, he makes sure to plant the American flag to signal his success in stealing its ideas. Though Moore's bewildered, "are you kidding me?" shtick becomes a bit tiresome by the end, it mostly suits the "wow" nature of what he uncovers. In Italy, the wide-eyed director can only shrug his shoulders when he hears from young workers that they have thirty to thirty-five paid vacation days a year, not including holidays, paid maternity leave, or a paid honeymoon. Seeking an explanation for this, he turns to the CEO of a motorcycle company who tells him that the happier the workers are, the more production they achieve and hence the more profits for the company, though Moore does not discuss the overall economic problems of the country.

In France, Moore teases us by taking us to what he calls a gourmet five-star restaurant in Normandy only to reveal, much to our calculated astonishment, that we are in a typical school cafeteria that serves five-course meals, planned each month by the school and city representatives. Eating with the students, he offers one girl a can of coke but is summarily rebuffed. In looking at Finland's school system, Moore discovers that students have no homework and more free time to socialize and enjoy time with their families. He learns that Finland has no private schools so that the community is dedicated to making the public schools work.

According to Moore, Finland's school system has risen from the depths to become number one in the world.

From there we travel to Slovenia (not to be confused with Slovakia) which has a free university system, especially inviting for foreign students, to Germany where factory workers toil 36 hours a week while being paid for 40 hours. Oh, yes — if they get too stressed, they can go to a spa at company expense to work it all out. Pausing for a serious look at how one country deals with its unpleasant past, Moore explores how educators and students confront the Holocaust in Germany, even though it is uncomfortable to face.

In Norway, we see how prisoners are treated as human beings, even mass murderers like Anders Breivik, even though Breivik has threatened to go on a hunger strike because of what he claims are "deteriorating" living conditions — isolation from the other inmates and allowing only contact being with health care workers and guards. While the energy sags a bit in the last two segments in Portugal and Iceland, Where to Invade Next delivers a sharp, meaningful message though not as impactful as Moore's earlier work. Contrary to his critics, however, it does not disparage America, but suggests that a great people can be even greater if they are willing to learn from others.

What if the United States invaded other countries not in order to control people, but to learn from them?! Moore, in a mostly positive yet still humorous, sarcastic and witty bent, leads the charge into other countries. He liberates many brilliant and counter-intuitive strategies for success. It is shocking, even to people who think they know these strategies already.

The invasion of Italy comes first. Here we see that the clash between the company and the well-being of its employees, in pay, vacation, family health and more, is a total fallacy. Kids in Finland have no standardized tests, no private schools and even no homework. Kids are treated with respect, like adults really, and have more time to play and be kids. And yet Finland is no slouch when it comes to education and in fact they lead the world here. In France kids are provided with healthy school lunches that we consider gourmet, yet for the French it is just a decent meal. Germany and its companies support a strong middle class by providing all workers with great pay and lots of vacation time. This is so even with less hours worked per week. Companies even encourage unions and furnish employees with spas. "If you give workers power," says a company leader "it is better for everyone."

Slovenia, among other countries, provides free college to everyone, even foreigners. Slovenian officials were at the theater handing out applications. No one is penalized for using drugs in Portugal, and the country is not drowning in anarchy or crime. Women have equal rights in Tunisia. Prisoners in Norway have their own cabins and lawn chairs in the sunlight. They cook their own meals and are free to roam around with barely any security personnel present. Even in the country's maximum security prison there are open rooms. Moore contrasted this with videos of U.S. prison beatings and other harsh treatments. What if the Lehman Brothers were the Lehman Sisters?! Iceland shows us how this might play out.

Moore offered little to counter his ideas, yet we hear too much about such counter points already. The mainstream media, said Moore, is adept at showing us how bad the world is. He thinks this can be fixed. These ideas from other countries are not just good, they are already in use. And they are not just in use, they allow other countries to excel and lead the world. Many of these ideas are American ideas, but out of fear or ignorance they are not used in America. All Americans should see this. Four and a half of five stars. World premiere seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

It was worth waiting nearly three hours in a rush line to catch a screening of this film at TIFF. Mike was there, and when he mentioned before the screening that he made this movie entirely with his own money because he wanted 100% control of it, my expectations were immediately elevated.

And definitely rewarded. Whatever your favorite Moore outing is, I can tell you that this film compares favorably to it. But what really made this a memorable experience for me was that after the movie, Moore invited the entire audience to a ticket-holders Q & A with drinks and refreshments at a pub close by. I had to skip the next movie on my docket in order to attend, but I sure wasn't going to miss this!

The movie might be called "Non-American Exceptionalism." In it, he "invades" a host of (mostly European) countries to "capture" their best ideas. These ideas turn out to be systems – be they economic, institutional, educational, penal, etc. – where desirable ends that could never be realized in America are par for the course. It can be a prosperous factory in Italy where the workers are well-paid and get fantastic benefits … it can be the cost-effective school lunch program in France where kids get chef-made gourmet meals every day … it can be the free college in Slovenia ... you get the gist. While Moore doesn't pretend that these countries have no problems (watch the right-wing media say otherwise), his examples certainly seem to be "winners" that he invites scrutiny of.

What's likely to be most controversial about this movie is one of the conclusions he draws: that systems seem to work better when women are involved in the decision-making process. When I asked him at the Q & A how he thought Fox was going to spin this film, he said that with the female-friendly theme, they'll probably say that it's a campaign commercial for Hillary. (For the record, his hero female politician is Elizabeth Warren).

Obviously, your potential enjoyment of this film is completely Moore-dependent. If you've ever enjoyed one of his provocateur films, you can put this one down as a sure thing; if you're one of his detractors, this will make you resent him all the more. Seeing this as a member of the former group and getting to attend a one-of-a-kind Q & A afterward definitely made this one of my all-time TIFF outings.

We Americans have a lot to learn from other cultures. Most Americans think they are "the best" in the world - IN EVERYTHING - AND THAT'S UTTER NONSENSE! It's a form of social control used by various elites to keep the average American from knowing what is possible with the great wealth and power our country has accumulated. We have been brainwashed into taking crumbs and believing that's all we deserve from our society.

We are also deliberately kept ignorant about the rest of the world and how much better many countries treat their citizens - since our school systems pretend that most of the world outside of Mexico, Canada and a few large countries in Europe and Asia - simply doesn't exist. It outrageous. We are such fools!

I'm an extremely well-informed person and I didn't even know about half of what Michael Moore mentioned in his film! I can only imagine all the dunderheads out there who have never even heard the names of some of the countries mentioned in Where To Invade Next! Be curious about the rest of the world. It has a lot to teach us!

Just like Mr. Moore's previous works, brilliant, raw and based on the truth and statistics. The contrast was overwhelming and sickening but he finished it on a positive note. That if only we realize we, the people, realize we have all that it takes, we can bring the wall down, one hammer and chisel at a time. But as one of the guys in the movie said we have "a long way to go". He covered all the relevant issues of our today's society, from women's equal pay to nutrition, from student loans to bankers getting away with murder, from criminalization of drugs and its connection to race to police brutality, from an overworked and underpaid society to disappearance of middle class, from capital punishment to mistreatment of the incarcerated, and more....It is eye-opening and educational, to say the least and makes you wonder why we we "go home and are okay" with all of this. Because "nobody should be".

I gave this movie a 7 (hesitated with 8) because it is a good film. It is funny, entertaining, it shows things that are true. Something that is nice is that it seems also that Moore tries to show as many countries as possible, even countries that some people might feel are "forgetable", etc.

The reason why I do give a lower mark is that it is a film that is really made for a US audience. Having spent a good deal of time in North America I can completely understand why he tries to make it so that the ideas shown and expressed in the film are as "American" or "American born" as possible, but when you're from someplace else, and when you know more about history or such things in general, it seems just a bit annoying that they try to make some ideas that are pretty much universal, or just not American, as American as possible. The ending is also quite cliché, but it just reflects and intensifies the previous comment. it's actually because of the very-patriotic-to-get-republicans-to-listen ending that i decided to give this movie a7 instead of an 8.

for non us viewers I would say that you can just skip the last 15 minutes, but that the rest is great

I always enjoy watching Michael's movies. But I think this my be his best work to date. Don't be fooled by the tittle. This is a thought provoking movie that really opens your eyes to a lot of things and makes you think long and hard about our priorities. In true Michael fashion we get lots of laughs and a lot of smart humor. Everybody should see this movie and judge it for themselves. Don't watch it with any preconceived notions and based on your political view point. Non partisanship is mandatory if you want to get the most from this film. And no matter on your point of view I assure you that you will learn something.

There are many words one might use to describe filmmaker/documentarian Michael Moore and 'preachy' might just be one of them. His films, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Sicko…were all highly entertaining and even educational for the peripherally blind. But Moore had lost his fun side. There were moments of levity in each of his films but the humor on display in his first feature Roger & Me had been replaced with a political or prejudice view Moore hoped to express.

Moore's latest documentary, Where To Invade Next takes us back to the fun and wit that made his earlier work so refreshingly entertaining. In this his eighth feature documentary (but first in six years), Moore travels to Europe where he visits countries that seem to have captured the American dream of a work/life balance. We travel with Moore to Germany where we find small companies who pay big wages, to Italy where employees are given more weeks annual vacation than an American can hope for over a five year period and to Slovenia which offers free university tuition. Moore then presents a mock 'invasion' of the country which is presented in a hilarious tongue-in-cheek style of filmmaking.

The presentation does not feel preachy nor does it appear anti-American. Instead, Moore is able to casually walk the line of presenting lifestyles, politics and privileges in other countries that American's dream of or have tied up in political limbo. That's not to suggest that Moore doesn't show the underbelly of the giant. The European way of life may not be sustainable in the long term due to the expense of the support. And Europe is still not without its issues to which Moore is quick to point out to rousing audiences.

A tad overlong at 2 hours, Where to Invade Next is arguably Michael Moore's most enjoyable film. We are not looking at the ravages of the auto industry on Flint Michigan or how sick individuals are denied health care. Here, we take a jovial look at the things that look like a shopping bag of perfect put into a soggy paper bag about to collapse. Moore has an energy and an enthusiasm here that he hasn't shown in years and the results had the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival up off their seats in lauding applause at the conclusion of the screening.

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This is one of Michael Moore's best documentaries. It tackles many of the issues that are relevant in America's current socio-political climate (healthcare, paid leave, education, mass incarceration, drugs) but without the usual flashy, confrontational gimmicks that we have come to associate with Michael Moore. Instead, he simply takes us on a learning tour to other countries that have come up with wildly successful solutions to these issues. We have all these prime examples of programs that actually work, yet somehow, here in America, socialism is still a dirty word, so we insist on more of the same failed policies despite all the data proving otherwise because we refuse to accept that somebody other than America got it right. If you're like me (brimming with cynicism in the abyss of absolute hopelessness for this country), it's at least nice to be reminded of what is possible.

I feel like weather you agree or disagree with what Micheal Moore is doing, Where to Invade Next does make you think about things, and is the type of doc that starts a conversation.

Although, is it a doc when the filmmaker gets so personally involved? Moore sets up Where to Invade Next with a humorous narrative suggesting he was asked by all the heads of the U.S Military to travel to all White countries, see what they can offer America, and take it over for their resources.

The main concept is that there are countries out their who are living at least part of the American dream better than America, and I do mean parts. Moore is not saying these countries are perfect only noting one aspect that they are doing better than America, aspects that these countries actually got from the United States in the first place, aspects we ourselves are not doing as a whole anymore.

You could punch holes in what Moore is trying to do, cause it's easy enough to do, but that would be very pigheaded when the man is just trying to show us (in a very funny way) how America has fallen off the path and how it's possible to get back on track.

It's not an easy path to get back on, in fact its More complicated than what Moore is explaining, but the doc does get you asking "Why doesn't America work that way?" I feel that's important.

This isn't just a great documentary, it's a great film, with jaw dropping reveals and unexpected twists. By about 5 minutes into the film I was hooked and at the edge of my seat as the rest of the two hours flew by; I didn't want it to end, which is always a good sign.

To be clear, this film is not about U.S. military interventions like Fahrenheit 9/11, as I suspected, but rather an ironic look into the discordance between American values and American actions; not abroad but at home. It takes us outside our world only to look back at ourselves as if we were strangers. We get to see our values around health, education, incarceration, violence, and fairness in a new light. And, without giving too much away, the film culminates with a big twist that is marvelously compelling.

As a result, this film has stuck with me. It has been months since I first saw the film at the Chicago International Film Festival, where it won the Founder's Award, and I find myself thinking about the film at least weekly, which finally prompted me to write this short review.

I'm telling everyone I meet to see this film, and to bring their friends, kids, neighbors. Plan some time to talk afterward! I can't wait to see it again myself.

I usually like Michael Moore's films for taking a human interest approach to well established problems, and thereby bringing these closer to the viewer. That routinely invites criticism over his lack of factual basis, but when it's an American topic he's dealing with, the framework checks out. So "Bowling for Columbine", "Fahrenheit 9/11", "Capitalism - A Love Story" are all great films, because they make a case for a clear message.

What's problematic, though, is when Moore travels the world, because he picks certain elements out of a different culture and presents that as a better way that America could easily adapt. In "Sicko", he focused on Cuban health care being free and pulled the stunt to get US 9/11 firefighters treatment they were not granted in the States. That ignored the reality that a great deal of people wanted to get out for lack of perspective, and that free health care is an effective tool to rally public support for an otherwise unpopular political system.

In "Where to invade next", Moore presents a potpourri of European social systems, and being from there, it is extremely obvious that he randomly picks out certain aspects while ignoring where these come from. So Italy has a two-hour lunch break and the highest number of public holidays. However, the companies he shows are family run. Also, Italy has a high home ownership and a low mobility rate, so there is a more local business which allows generous lunch breaks and free time - there is less commute. Italy also has no industrial growth, bankrupt banks, a huge deficit, political instability and the highest exposure to the refugee crisis.

Some of Moore's points are good, like when he interviews the father of one of Breivik's victims in Norway who does not argue for the death penalty, because it is a proved fact that the death penalty does not lower crime. As is his point in regard to Finland that no homework actually elevates the grades of pupils. But in Slovenia, he focuses on free university education including foreigners - which is an exception, in most European countries foreign students ARE charged, while domestic students are not.

In Tunisia, he drives a far fetched angle from legal abortion to the Arab Spring, and while the argument of women's rights effecting positive social change is a good one, what happened to the Arab Spring? In Egypt, as in most of the Middle East, women's issues are far worse now, and Tunisia is the one small country where a fragile stability has taken hold. Everywhere else, the end of dictatorship means the rise of religious fanatics.

In Iceland, he chooses the example of the first female head of state, and a bank run by women which did not go bankrupt in 2008, to argue that female quota and leadership would reduce conflict and increase efficiency. Yet Margaret Thatcher was a woman, and that didn't make her leadership more peaceful or popular. Carly Fiorina is a woman, and that didn't make her more successful at Hewlett-Packard. It's the economic and political culture that determines the outcome, not gender, and the case for equality could be made without choosing random examples.

In France, he claims with a diagram without numbers that effective taxation in the US would be much higher, because many things for which Americans pay extra are covered through taxes. In France, 1 in 5 people are state-employed, so there are exemptions and funds for them, but not for others. Gentrification has driven rents so high in Paris that people with low-paying jobs are forced to sleep in parks or cars, and young French view their future the most negatively in Europe. While Moore was filming there, there was a movement against unemployment and government standstill, which he must have been aware of.

His most inaccurate comments concern Germany, however. He claims from visiting one factory that there is a 36-hour week, and that health care allows spa vacations, and that Germany makes an active effort to confront the demons of its past, making it a more open-minded society. In reality, manufacturing jobs may have 36 hours, but the much larger service sector hasn't. Germany has the highest effective taxation in the Eurozone owing to exploding health care costs - you face premium hikes of 10-15% a year, because the 0%-interest rate of our Central Bank eliminates insurer's and pension fund's profits. The memory culture is highly selective and symbolic, and the refugee crisis has led to a massive resurgence of xenophobia.

One Tunisian interview partner mentions that Americans tend to think they are the greatest country, which eliminates their curiosity about the rest of the world - that's a very good point. However, it doesn't help Americans to travel the world just in order to see what they want to see. Instead of looking for randomly selected points abroad, he should have focused on the problems back home.

The thing is with this Michael Moore's latest docu, I'm a liberal, so he's basically preaching to the converted. So the best way for this film to have the most impact is for it to screen in regions of the U.S.A. where there's big demographics that want status quo, that blame the minorities for the economy, that are still gung-ho about endless wars.

From "Roger & Me," to "Bowling For Columbine," to "Sicko" to "Fahrenheit 911" and now "Where To Invade Next," Michael Moore knows which buttons to push to tick off the right wingers. Don't get me wrong, I love this country, this good ol' US of A but let's not be ignorant, let's not be in denial, let's not forget the fact that we are also responsible for lots of atrocities, many of which are currently happening, including our idea of going to one war after another after another, toppling one dictator after another dictator after another. We invaded Iraq. which didn't attack us on 9/11 by the way, with the plan of stealing their oil and look what happens now, we're still paying the consequences of the lives and expense we've lost there, and terrorism fill the political vacuum and wages war on us. WHERE TO INVADE NEXT is basically Michael Moore invading major modern nations and playfully stealing their ideas that work, ideas that improve the lives of their citizens.

It's sad really when you think about it. It's sad that we are supposed to be the richest most powerful country in the world and yet many of our middle-class are disappearing and the poor don't have a leg up to get themselves out of poverty. Italy gives their newly mothers five months of paid maternity leave. The education system in Norway get rid of standardized testing and instead they improve on poetry, art, and music, basically stuff on which Americas education system often cuts funding. Portugal has done away with death penalty. Even a moslem country in Tunisia can have their conservative and liberal parties work together to pass laws that would improve the lives of their citizens. Germany has free college tuition and universal health care.

Watching WHERE TO INVADE NEXT makes you envy these other neighboring countries, they get to live the American dream while we here cannot. The government should be by the people, of the people and for the people, NOT for the greedy few but that is unfortunately what's happening in our country. In the U.S., the greedy few on top gamble with our money and they fail or when the bubble burst, like in 2008, it's our taxpayers money that bailed them out. The CEOs responsible were never convicted of their crime. Speaking of taxes, most of our taxes go to military, and yet the politicians make it seem like we cannot afford such things as universal health care and universal college.

Another thing that WHERE TO INVADE NEXT points out is that we Americans have become arrogant. We think that we are the good guys so much so that everything we do cannot be wrong. We have bought into our own exceptionalism that we choose to not learn from other countries anymore. We forget to learn from our own history. WHERE TO INVADE NEXT goes straight for the truth, it's Michael Moore's funniest yet, but it's funny in a way that leaves a feeling a self-retrospect in you. It's eye-opening. I hope my fellow millennials get to see WHERE TO INVADE NEXT, and then do their research, learn from history and then take a stand and do something about it.

the premise is Michael Moore "invading" other countries (mostly European) to highlight what they do better than America ,whether it's healthcare, education, prisons, drug enforcement, or all of the above. He then proposes that we "steal" these things to make our country better.

We can agree with Moore that there many things Europe does better than us, but the problem is he doesn't offer any in-depth analysis or solutions to these issues. He argues we can fix our problems by doing what the Euros are doing - and in some cases I wholeheartedly agree - but he makes no effort to present the other side of the coin or to explain why these changes haven't occurred yet. if you're well-versed in worldly affairs this movie may affirm many things you already know, but it doesn't offer any new insights and doesn't really tell you anything you don't already know.

thematically, this picture's a bit uneven. it lacks the focused compelling vision that Bowling for Columbine had. But it's also lightheartedly entertaining and there are amusing and funny scenes, with an examination of the perks of Norway's prisons being a highlight.

as Moore often does, this feels more like propaganda than an impartial documentary. it's clear there's an agenda here and stuff is often taken out of context or manipulated to support his case. For example, he touts Scandinavian schooling as the pinnacle of education, yet conspicuously fails to mention any Asian countries, who also have superior education, because it doesn't support his case for more liberal and unstructured schooling.

at it's best, this can be a fun and entertaining look at the questions American society faces. just don't expect any thought-provoking results or actual answers to these questions.

Anyone one voted under a 7 did so out of a bias anger..What this movie shows it how The USA attitude of were are the greatest county in the world just isn't true anymore.The basic things..Diet,education,Health Care..The Justice system has all failed in the USA.We simply do not have the best of any of these things anymore...I don't understand how this movie is sailing in under the radar with out much publicity..I was alone in the theater when I saw it,that is no one else was there..it was empty.I thought I might get bored but found myself amazed by what I was seeing.I wanted to run out and tell everyone what I just saw.I would like to make this point I work at a USA college admissions office..Once in awhile someone would come in saying they had a college degree in another county could they transfer any of it here..it was always met with a resounding "no"..I asked why..do they have less elements on their periodic table? it made no sense and seemed to boil down to not spending money here in the USA..I had the privilege of going to a small catholic grade school where little old Italian ladies made us lunch everyday..So I always ate well..somehow in the years since that went away...who knows why..

Greetings again from the darkness. We haven't heard much from director Michael Moore since his 2009 film Capitalism: A Love Story … and not many people have complained. While Mr. Moore's eagerness to ask tough questions and confront the system has always been appreciated (or at least thought-provoking), his style and manner have often seemed somewhat dubious, one-sided and self-serving. And now comes the new and improved Michael Moore. Many say he has mellowed in temperament; however, a better description might be that he has achieved a level of wisdom that allows for an approach that makes us more receptive to his points.

This latest begins with a note that the U.S. has not won a war since WWII, and the farcical hook is that the Joint Chiefs of Staff have summoned Moore for advice. See, America has lost its way and is on the wrong track when it comes to such basics as personal happiness, equality and overall priorities. Moore's solution is to "invade" other countries and stake a claim on the things they do better than us (us being the United States).

To drive home the contrast of how other nations focus on crucial topics that the U.S. seems to have forgotten, Moore cherry-picks the best parts of other societies. These include: Italy (extended vacations for less stress), France (superior school nutrition and straight-forward sex education), Finland (top rated education despite no homework, short school days, and no standardized testing), Slovenia (free college education which means no debt for graduates), Germany (strong middle class, national healthcare, high wages at small companies), Portugal (decriminalization of drugs resulting in less crime and lower drug usage), Norway (prison rehabilitation), Tunisia (women's rights), and Iceland (gender equality).

To convince us of his kinder, gentler self, Moore obsessively flaunts the American flag throughout. It does help to distract from his trademark disheveled and bedraggled personal appearance … his usual method in attempting to convince he's just "one of the guys" rather than the multi-millionaire he is. Still, despite his gimmicky approach, it's impossible not to notice the obvious lack of in-your-face negativity. In fact, it could be stated that optimism exists as he tromps his way through the good news in each stop. Optimism with a bite – the comparisons aren't favorable for the U.S. in any of these scenarios.

What Moore does best is generate debate and inspire passionate discussion on topics. His point here is that most of the ideals he is claiming from other countries actually have a foundation in America. Yes, these are ideals that America has forsaken, yet are working in other places. Of course, the cherry-picking gives the impression of idyllic societies, when in fact, each of these nations face many of their own unnamed challenges – some on the specific topics addressed by Moore.

Moore's goal seems to be to re-focus our attention on core American values - the topics Americans care about in our daily lives. He wants us to be annoyed with the way things are … crime-fed bankers still lining their pockets, a stressed-out workforce, and an education system that is quite simply stated, a mess. Maybe this kinder, gentler (but still manipulative) contrarian is on to something, and he ends by asking us how we feel about all of this. Moore has again succeeded in getting us thinking about things, and this time it comes with quite a surreal movie moment … Moore telling a disinterested Portugal police officer that he has "cocaine in my pocket right now."

Another excellent film by Michael Moore.

The footage from the school cafeteria in France was just embarrassing. The muck fed to children in Canada - by both schools AND many halfwit substandard parents - is disgusting :(

Over-sweetened, unhealthy food is not a good investment...our shortsighted authorities prefer corporate profits now, which only leads to expensive medical care later.

As the French chef remarks looking at photos of north American school lunches: "that is not food...your poor children".

As for sitting in a civilized manner during meals...NOT the norm in this backward society.

The social attitudes & policies in all the countries profiled in this film are not only sophisticated but also sensible, and explain why the citizens in those countries are so much smarter than here.

Wake up USA and Canada! ... Rampant greed & individualism, not giving a F*** about your fellow citizens , i.e. the so-called 'american dream' is getting us nowhere.

Playing nice with others results in MORE wealth and happiness, not less. (Duh!)

Very entertaining look at the good ideas in place in a range of other countries, mostly in Europe. Moore is even better than "Sicko," where he looked at only four other countries. This movie looks at more countries to show the good programs they have that the US does not. Everything he shows is possible in the US, with improved federal policies. Some have criticized the movie by saying it's simplistic, but that misses the mark. That criticism only works if you assume that the economic constraints in place here need to stay in place. As Moore shows, political participation over time makes things change for the better, and it makes the economic system change. Because our economic system has changed and can change more, what he depicts is possible here. He shows a few examples of ideas that started here, were adopted there, and were dropped here. The movie is a refreshing look at what we could be if we put our will to it. In the process, he shows where and why the quality of life is better in other places for all but the richest Americans. Moore's best movie yet. See it for the entertainment, for ideas on where to vacation, and for ideas on how to vote in the next election. If you like Bernie Sanders, you will find parallels in the ideas presented.

To take this movie seriously, one has to accept its premise: that other countries, especially European countries, have anything to offer to the United States that's worth learning and adopting. That premise is hard to accept or defend. If anything, the rest of the world relies on the United States to solve problems, not the other way around. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, which occurred four and half decades after Europe ceased being the center of world power, the United States emerged as THE dominant country on the planet. That fact the movie omits. That omission seriously erodes the movie's credibility as a serious social commentary. Instead, Moore seems to revel in his dual role of American tourist/amateur cultural anthropologist. His admiration and interest in other cultures seem superficial and entirely staged, which is not surprising since the movie is not an academic project but rather a commercial product meant for an American audience and meant to promote a political agenda. This movie is another example of a movie maker using entertainment to make a political point. The formula certainly is not a new one. Whether it works in this case is up to the audience to decide.