The Bottom Line
Pros
- About health care in the US, a subject of vital importance to all Americans.
- It's so funny it hurts. You'll want to take two asprins and watch it again in the morning.
- See how America stacks up against other nations in taking care of its citizens.
- Learn where you can go for medical treatment if you can't afford it in the US.
- Get some insight into how some political leaders serve their constituencies.
Cons
- Moore's antics are amusing, but sometimes undermine the seriousness of his message.
Description
- Moore takes sick Americans to Guantanamo, demanding they receive medical care equal to that given to alleged terrorists.
- Nixon's White House tapes reveal how HMOs were invented as cash cows for private business--by providing minimal health care.
- Hear former HMO case reviewers confess their guilt about causing deaths by denying necessary treatments--to get bonus pay.
- The DVD has 80 minutes of extras, including new interviews, follow ups, featurettes, plus music video, trailer and more.
Guide Review - Sicko (2007) - Movie Review
How it is, asks documentarian Michael Moore, that the US, which is among the richest nations in the world, ranks so low--just above Slovenia, in fact--in the health care provided for its citizens?The answers to that question form the thesis of Sicko, the 123-minute feature film in which Moore traces the HMO system back to the Nixon administration and shows how Republican politicos defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton's initiative for universal health care coverage. He also follows several middle class Americans who've been denied treatment by their profit-motivated health care insurers and have, as a result, gone bankrupt or, worse yet, died.
Moore travels to Canada and Cuba, among other countries, where socialized medicine provides free health care of all citizens, and shows that they've found another, better way. He even interviews his own Canadian kin who, although they admire the US, won't cross the border without purchasing health insurance for the day because they're afraid of possible financial disaster should they need medical care while they're away.
Moore, who appears on camera, as he does in his other films, clearly articulates his point of view. You know where he stands on this issue. That said, his blatant editorializing and dramatic style annoy some viewers. But, to be fair, he very wisely presents AMA spokespersons, doctors and other people who claim socialized medicine puts health care into the hands of the government, and that's a very bad idea.
Moore's films are always well-made, timely, thought-provoking and about subjects that really matter. In Sicko, he's at the top of his game. This is a film you must see.
