Where to Invade Next

People probably make up their mind about a Michael Moore movie before they even see it. He appears to have taken that to heart with his newest doc Where to Invade Next.  Viewers might be surprised to find little of the anger, sardonicism, and clear, firm political stance of his films like Roger & Me or Fahrenheit 9/11. On the contrary, Moore displays an uncharacteristic restraint so as to engage, not enrage, about the subjects at hand. This works in favor of the points he presents, even though the presentation is a little staler than usual.

The picture sees the professional muckraker take his film crew abroad under the pretext of "invading" other countries to steal their best policy ideas and take them back to America (but really, he just talks to people about them). Some of the ideas he encounters are already well-known to most Americans, such as how other countries have way better schools (better curriculum, better coursework, a better deal for college-goers, even better school lunches). Or how the U.S. is the only country without mandatory paid vacation days. Or how the country of Iceland, which went bankrupt in the 2008 financial crisis, clawed itself out of the economic abyss by taking a decidedly different approach than the U.S. 

Other things he finds are quite eye-opening. One example is a visit to a Norwegian prison, the surprises in which are simply hilariously stunning. Another is how the North African country Tunisia, only a few years removed from gaining democracy in the Arab Spring, already has constitutionally guaranteed equality for women, which the U.S. does not. That turns out to be a recurring theme, the fact that the U.S. is not only behind on representation of women, but that countries with women in positions of business or government power seem to function pretty well.

Through all these travels, the attention-getting stunts and guerilla ambush interviews that are Moore’s forte are nowhere in sight, and his sarcastic comedic bent is kept to a minimum. Yes, he injects some humor into his discussions (there’s a jab at the last President that still lands nearly eight years later), and the usual suspects (i.e., Fox News talking heads) appear in snippets as the face of ineffective American policy. But Moore himself is pretty subdued. Instead, he lets his subjects do most of the talking, which makes a stronger case.

That also accounts for the movie’s relative weakness in form. The tricks and techniques Moore usually employs may be ammunition for his detractors, but they’re frankly what make his movies entertaining for the rest of us. Without them, Where to Invade Next seems a bit like his amateur vacation videos roughly tacked together into a travelogue.

Still, the central question it asks is very good. Why is the United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world, outranked by other nations in so many things? The answers Moore presents aren’t exactly ones that can be simply shrugged off.