The first thought that strikes the viewer after watching Michael Moore‘s surprise film, “Michael Moore In Trumpland,” is where the hell is Donald Trump? Much like this week’s misnomer “Jack Reacher: Never Come Back” (he does), there’s a big element of Moore’s ‘Trumpland’ that is essentially false advertising. Those expecting an excoriating takedown of the Republican nominee for President have come to the wrong place. Instead, the documentarian’s latest has little to do with Trump and everything to do with Hillary Clinton. In fact the movie, which is more a one man show/stand-up effort then documentary, is an active apologist love letter to the current Secretary of State, but like many recent Moore efforts, its a broad, inelegant presentation instead of the October surprise sneak attack it wants to be.
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Whipped up and shot 11 days ago (no, really), the artless ‘Trumpland’ gets its title from how it was produced, with Moore shooting in would-be hostile Red State territory (however, he later says the audience was only made up of approximately 35-45% Trump supporters, once again an indication of how the director tends to play fast and loose with facts for his own purpose).
‘Trumpland’ begins with Moore’s regular modus operandi of unsubtle theatrics, and dialing up his “Aw, shucks,” folksy charm. He’s just one of the Regular Joes from Flint, Michigan like every face in the crowd (Moore trots out his common man badge of honor so often, it’s as if he’s exploiting the working class-ness of the city for his own needs). But once on the stage, Moore employs his usual brand of rabble-rousing tricks that provide some, but not enough guffaws, with the gags including a wall built around the Mexican constituency of the audience and a drone camera to closely watch the Muslim members of the crowd. This is Moore’s goofy way to extend an olive branch to the Trump supporters in the theatre, and meet them halfway with humor. It’s mildly effective, but not actually that funny.
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While there are some barbs about Trump, and some self-depreciating jabs at the wishy-washiness of liberals, the film soon reveals its hand as light propaganda, playing out as a lionizing infomercial for Hilary Clinton. Rushed into production, Moore’s clearly trying to influence the election before ballots are cast in a couple of weeks. In fact, his live show took place just hours before the infamous Billy Bush “locker room” tapes hit the Washington Post, so there is an immediacy to it all. Extremely of the moment topics are broached including Wikileaks, recent Trump statements and more. But rarely is this urgency capitalized on in any meaningful manner.
The best segments are the produced ones — a fake inaugural video and a mock ad about Hilary Clinton’s health are rather hilarious, but these sequences are unfortunately few and far between. However, Moore is at his most biting when he’s angry — see the Palme d’Or-winning furor of “Fahrenheit 9/11” or the the Academy Award winning “Bowling For Columbine”— but the filmmaker’s docile ho-hum routine here is just too glib and superficial to make much impact. And where ‘Trumpland’ suffers most is when the satire recedes and pure sincerity takes over. Deeper into the film, Moore is practically on one knee desperately trying to convince the crowd into voting for Hillary Clinton, singing her praises, and nearly begging the audience to find one good attribute about her. It’s here when ‘Trumpland’ starts bordering on overwrought hagiography.
Forget fair and balanced, which admittedly isn’t the ambition. Moore’s film isn’t even an op-ed as he’s called his documentaries in the past. This is hardcore activism and stumping: Moore wants you to cast your ballot against hatred and bigotry, the implicit message being that Donald Trump will bring the country into ruin (though this sentiment is often said, it’s not at all the focus). While this argument for Trump as a sociopath and uber narcissist is nearly irrefutable at this point, Moore unintentionally does his thesis a disservice by reinforcing the narrative that Hillary Clinton is the lesser of two evils, which is not exactly a galvanizing hoorah for undecided voters.
Where ‘Trumpland’ is at its most convincing, rousing and effective is as a firm bolster of feminism. Cannily, Moore aims at female voters, empathizing with all the burdens women must endure on a day to day basis and reminding the viewer that Clinton has sacrificed much for her husband, country and more. Moore paints a picture of Clinton’s activism and amusingly posits an argument that no woman will shoot you on the street let alone brazenly touch the nuclear button.
Moore’s ultimate aim with the picture is trying to caution Democrats against the complacency that comes with thinking Trump has already lost, and swaying Bernie Sanders supporters who claim they won’t vote in this election. ‘Trumpland’ likely won’t change one deplorable’s mind (Moore calls them the “rabid” supporters) and it mostly just preaches to the choir. But Moore’s hope is that on-the-fence voters, in what he calls battleground “Brexit states,” may see the film and be swayed toward ticking the box for Clinton.
While there are less fear-mongering hot takes than one might imagine, Moore’s rhetoric is nonetheless problematic, veering from swipes at Trump and those that still might vote for him, to a silly moment where he declares he’ll run for President in 2020 if Hillary Clinton fails us all. Moore, as he usually does, takes a lot of big swings, likening the lack of universal healthcare in the country — and all the lives that have been lost in the process of those that couldn’t afford coverage — to a kind of domestic terrorism worth lamenting as much as the victims of 9/11.
At its best, “Michael Moore’s Trumpland,” hopes to inspire some engagement by the weary or doubtful voter who has been exhausted to death by the shit show that is the 2016 presidential election and wants to just tune out. But at its worst, Moore indulges his own worst tendencies: painting with a wide brush, leaning too much on superficial gags and not enough on substantive arguments. Moore’s goal — save the country from the worst Presidential election of all time— is sound, but his ungainly presentation and shaky arguments make for an uneven polemic that never takes fire, even when doused in gasoline. [C]