Review: Right off the bat, Michael Moore’s 3rd major film is easily his best, though, much like Bowling For Columbine, more focus and time in the editing room could have made this a much better documentary. Like his 2002 success, Fahrenheit 9/11 starts strong, but unfortunately looses focus about an hour in and dedicates over 30 minutes toward subjects that are related but not necessarily needed. In fact, I counted six different topics portrayed in Moore’s documentary. Six! The list includes: possible conspiracy theories, hardships of soldiers, poor planning to protect the U.S. after the September 11th attacks, the U.S. failures in Iraq, inability to help Iraq war veterans and Halliburton’s role in it all. Don’t get me wrong, all six are very interesting topics that need to be told, but they should be fleshed out individually, not in a single two hour documentary. Despite this major weakness, Fahrenheit 9/11 succeeds in areas I once thought Moore was lacking in, the main one being research. Don’t get me wrong, there is a healthy dose of assumptions and theory, but there is also a fair amount of information most people may never be able to get their hands on again. Whether it was uncovering documents no one else had, or finding innocent citizens investigated by the U.S. anti-terror agency, or simply gaining candid interviews with soldiers and politicians, Moore may not persuade you to his opinion, but he certainly pushes you to start asking questions. And in many instances, this is all he needs to do. I also respect Moore’s ability to add comedy and irony to a serious subject like September 11th. He understands the pain and suffering many Americans dealt with on that day and made an effort to remind us of those feelings in a way that does not humiliate or make light of those who died. In this way, audiences should see that, whether they agree with him or not, Moore truly does care about his subjects and the problems they face. Because of this respect and honest, unflinching determination to peel back the questions surrounding both the devastating terrorist attacks and the Iraq War, I was truly sold on Fahrenheit 9/11. Unfortunately, someone needed to tell the controversial director, “less is more.” Merely cutting out a majority of the focus given to soldiers in Iraq would have tightened the piece and avoided the 30 minute lull impeding his case. Review by Matthew Abshire Informative: 4- Moore backs up his sarcasm with a wealth of information and investigation Entertainment: 3- As always, Moore knows entertainment, but there are some lagging stretches. Technical: 3- Overall a high quality work, but the film needs about 30 minutes of “fat” cut out. Overall: 3.5- Moore’s best film is muddled with detours that detract from the overall work.
 
Format: DVD Year: 2004 Running Time: 122 Min Distributor: Lions Gate Films and Dog Eat Dog Films Producer: Michael Moore Director: Michael Moore Date Reviewed: 12-16-2007 Story: Michael Moore's hard-hitting documentary addresses the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, outlining the reasons the U.S. has become a target for hatred and terrorism. Criticizing President George W. Bush's response to the attacks and reinforcing his theory that the Bush Administration used the tragic event to push its agenda, Moore also traces alleged dealings that connect two generations of the Bush family with Osama bin Laden's clan (NetFlix).