Moore goes pro-Hillary in ‘TrumpLand’ doc
The filmmaker returned with a one-man show for a mostly conservative crowd
Three weeks out from the U.S. election, Michael Moore returned with a much-hyped October surprise.
Hours after teasing a secret project on Twitter, the disruptive documentary filmmaker premiered his new Michael Moore in TrumpLand at New York’s IFC Center Tuesday night.
A line of hundreds (most of whom didn’t get in, despite waiting for hours) wrapped around the block of the theatre, where the movie kicked off a week-long run Wednesday. (The film is also showing at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Town Center 5 and is expected on iTunes soon.)
TrumpLand was filmed just 11 days ago in Wilmington, Ohio (about an hour northeast of Cincinnati), where Moore performed two nights of his one-man show for a mostly conservative crowd.
Rather than rail against Republican nominee Donald Trump, the political provocateur spends most of the 73-minute film coming to terms with Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate and potential United States president. (Moore endorsed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.)
Here’s how TrumpLand has fared with critics so far: Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times: “He compares (Clinton) — this will irk her detractors — to Pope Francis, though not on religious grounds. The Pope, Mr. Moore says, has been surprisingly activist since assuming the office; he postulates that Francis was biding his time for decades, patiently and unobtrusively waiting for his chance, which he seized once he ascended to the papacy. Mrs. Clinton, too, he says, has waited for years. He fantasizes that if elected, she will release the pent-up idealism she’s been clinging to since college, resulting in a flurry of land- mark legislation reminiscent of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous first 100 days.
“Sure, maybe. Or maybe not. Mr. Moore has basically made an earnest but not very entertaining pro-Clinton campaign film, occasionally funny, momentarily heartfelt when he takes up the subject of universal health care and the lives lost for lack of it.” Owen Gleiberman, Variety: “The film starts off as a winningly acerbic piece of political theatre, but it turns into the story of a religious conversion. Moore wants to do everything he can to steer the sympathies of the audience toward Hillary.” Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian: “TrumpLand is a fascinating document, but undeniably awkward in presentation. A few of his jokes land, but Moore is hardly Chris Rock or Louis C.K.” Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: “Moore is an articulate and passionate speaker who leavens his political discourse with folksiness and humour. And much of what he says here is bound to resonate, at least with certain voters whose minds aren’t yet entirely closed.
“But despite his efforts to empathize with Trump supporters — not that they’ll be bothering to see this film anyway — he’s unlikely to make any headway with them. His clear agenda is rather to raise the level of enthusiasm for Hillary, which is something her campaign needs in order to drive voter turnout.”