Movie: Sicko and the trailers before it.

Sicko_poster

My wife and I spent Independence Day watching a movie done by that American hero, Michael Moore.

This movie, like all Michael Moore movies, has garnered a lot of controversy. I can sum up the controversy by relating (and paraphrasing) a conversation I overheard at a movie theater this past weekend:

MAN: You go see that Sicko movie. I won't say anything.

ANOTHER MAN: You have a problem with it?

MAN: Yeah, I didn't like that scene where he took those sick 9/11 workers down to Cuba.

ANOTHER MAN: Oh. you saw the movie?

MAN: No, I just read about that part. But I don't like it.

Yeah, most critics have not nor will they ever see this film. But that doesn't stop them from criticizing it.

I have a personal interest in this film. During the last half of their lives, both my parents were suffering from a litany of ailments, including diabetes and heart disease for both. All they had was Medicare. I paid for supplemental insurance for them out of my own pocket. And luckily, we lived in Pennsylvania, where they have the PACE program to help aid with buying their prescriptions. If it wasn't for the latter, I have no idea what I or they would do. They were each on a veritable cocktail of medications. They paid $6 per prescription. If not for PACE, they amount would literally run in the thousands and not even I would be able to help them.

So I have first hand experience with how out of whack the US healthcare system is. My parents were the lucky ones. They got a few more years out of their lives through mine and PA's help. But thousands aren't that lucky. Needless to say, I looked forward to Michael Moore setting his sights on the HMO's.

He doesn't tell me anything I don't already know about the HMO's--they look for any way to weasel out of paying money, even to the point of damaging the health of their subscribers, while their CEO's take home million dollar paychecks.

What I didn't know is to what extend the countries with government paid health care--Canada, Great Britan, and France--have it. They never have to pay for a doctor visit or for surgery, and drugs are either free or damn cheap. They should show this part whenever a lawmaker says that these type of programs don't work.

Does Moore go for cheap stunts to try and make his point? Of course he does. He takes the 9/11 workers by boat to just outside Guantanamo Bay and shouts inside to try to get them free healthcare. He just showed us that the Al Querda captives there get all their health care needs taken care of. That was shocking enough. The boat trip to Gitmo was a bit unecessary and a bit of overkill.

Moore makes a very good point in this movie. Americans are always willing to help each other out when there is a national tragedy. We should extend that same help to the poor and downtrodden who could not afford the basic healthcare they deserve.

I liked the movie. It was kinder and gentler than his other movies. I just hope that it has some impact and some changes can be made.

Now, the trailers:

• 3:10 to Yuma: A remake of the 1957 Western of the same name, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Interesting for two reasons: A) Christian Bale has a teenage son in this movie. When was he born? When Bale was 12? and B) Seeing Crowe in this movie brings back fond memories of The Quick and the Dead. A great movie. Rent it.
• The 11th Hour: An ipso facto sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. I guess we should expect these enviroment-in-trouble documentaries every year until we start doing things about it. Speaking of The Quick and the Dead, this doc is helmed by Leonardo DiCaprio.
• Into the Wild: This is billed as a feel-good, boy leaving it all behind to become one with nature on a trek to Alaska. This is based on a real story, a non-fiction book my wife read. Unless the movie has a different ending than the book, it will not be all that feel good in the end.
• The Nanny Diaries: My people who have the inside scoop into the inner sanctum of The Weinstein Group, the company responsible for this movie, say that the powers that be aren't happy with the way the film has been testing. I say their wrong because the trailer features Scarlett Johnasson, within a few scant minutes of teh start of the trailer, exposing her underwear after being pantsed by kid she's watching. Scar Jo in her skivvies, even for a few seconds? I am so there.