"Capitalism: A Love Story" (2009) can be seen as the crescendo of documentary director Michael Moore's film-making career. He attempts to examine and critique America's — or more accurately, corporate America's — economic practices. The first part of the film recounts the United States' economic history since the last half of the 20th century, looking at how the U.S. descended from its economic golden age into the hole it's in now. This downward spiral is traced back to former president Ronald Regan and the members of the Treasury Department, which is depicted as a thinly veiled cartel run by Goldman Sachs ex-executives.
Moore blames irresponsible financial deregulation by successive Republican governments as a major cause of the grossly inflated power of investment banks. It was this culture of deregulation that fueled the audacity of financial institutions to sell dodgy products, such as sub-prime mortgages, which caused the near collapse of the global economic system.
On top of his historical analysis, Moore delves into some of the highly dubious practices that are now commonplace in corporate America, the most memorable of which is "Dead Peasant Insurance."
This terminology refers to life insurance policies purchased by employers for employees, the proceeds of which go to the company if the employee dies. Thus, the company benefits from the deaths of its own employees. It is difficult for viewers not to find this morally repugnant.
"Capitalism" succeeds and fails in ways similar to Moore's previous documentaries. On the one hand, it is very entertaining and makes a compelling case for why the current economic system is so dysfunctional, complete with footage of tearful families having their homes repossessed by financial institutions. It also highlights some of capitalism's ugliest manifestations, such as a administrators of a juvenile detention facility who paid judges to send kids to their center. Consequently, teenagers were incarcerated for completely trivial things.
Moore firmly establishes that capitalism has many problems, but provides no solutions. Winston Churchill's quote about democracy may apply in this situation: "Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." In Moore's film, capitalism is the worst economic system, but there doesn't seem to be a feasible alternative. Although Moore presents a few case studies of "democratized" factory communes, their structure is hardly something that would work across the United States.
The particularly effective parts of the film are those where Moore incorporates archived footage from the '50s extolling the many virtues of capitalism. These clips, which seem to promise that capitalism will make everyone rich, provide a stark contrast to the harsh realities of the present day, as Moore documents the struggle of factory workers that stage a sit-in strike in their factory when Bank of America refuses to pay them, eventually winning the approval of the president.
In his bid to win the sympathy and support of audiences, Moore goes over the top with tearful testimonials and sentimental music. His message would doubtless have been more effective if he'd exercised more restraint in this area. The film does have its redeeming comic moments, though — there is something undeniably amusing about Michael Moore heckling people coming out of the New York Stock Exchange. And have no fear, Moore aficionados; there are several obligatory shots of the director confronting security staff in the lobbies of large corporations.
Overall, the film is a solidly entertaining critique of the current favored economic system. In several instances, however, Moore's shameless exploitation of heart-wrenching images undercuts the legitimacy of his message. Perhaps this is why Moore's documentaries are released in theaters instead of on the Discovery Channel.
