You can count the number of documentary filmmakers who are more one-sided than Michael Moore on one hand. And the integrity of some of Moore's confrontations/interviews is questionable. Yet there's something extremely likable about someone who cares about America's social fabric to such a degree.
And it's Moore's affable nature that keeps his nearly irresistible new documentary "The Big One" from succumbing to sheer mean-spiritedness.
However, if you're a big believer in the free enterprise system or conservative politics, this often-tongue-in-cheek film probably won't be your cup of tea.
Like his memorable film debut, 1989's "Roger & Me," as well as his critically beloved "TV Nation" series, "The Big One" features Moore at his most indignant, as he attempts to right some "wrongs."
Filmed during an unorthodox tour for his best-selling book "Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American," the documentary follows Moore as he proceeds to ambush officials at various large companies by conducting impromptu "interviews" about some of their questionable business practices and strategies.
He also manages to terrorize the book company "escorts" who accompany him at his various stops, which results in one gag so funny that it's painful. Moore even trades licks with Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen.
And in the most memorable of the movie's many confrontations, Moore challenges Nike Chairman Phil Knight — whose shoe company manufactures the majority of its goods in Asian countries with child labor — to build a plant in the United States. (In typical fashion, he asks that it be located in his hometown of Flint, Mich.)
Though Moore's unique method of interviewing is a bit unnerving to watch, it's balanced out by a great deal of humor. And the filmmaker actually shows himself to be all-too-human in several places.
"The Big One" is rated PG-13 for a few scattered profanities, some vulgar jokes and references and brief violence shown in archival footage.