Bowling For Columbine

⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

Jess wanted to watch another doc, and I had seen this long ago. I kind of had an obsession with Columbine after reading a book about it in high school, mainly just around something like this could happen. The doc does an excellent tongue-in-cheek job of laying out the factors that lead to the gun violence in America. I do think he makes some good points, but also draws lots of equivalencies that were a bit of a leap. I love the bit where he is in Windsor seeing if Canadians lock their doors, talking to Canadians who seem unafraid compared to their American counter-parts, but I think the comparison he makes is a bit shallow. Still, he makes Canada sound like a dream land, which was kind of cool.

This movie focuses less on Columbine and more on America's obsession with guns, and it is crazy relevant more than 20 years after it was released. The stuff with the NRA is sickening to watch, but literally nothing has changed. He does do a little stunt with 2 survivors, getting K Mart to stop selling bullets, that actually paid off. I didn't love how it felt like he was forcing this action upon the boys, but the fact that something actually happened was very satisfying.

The movie ends with him showing up at Charlton Heston's house, who is the head of the NRA, and asking him tough questions point blank. I think Moore's style is a bit blunt, but its for moments like this, where he is unafraid to look a powerful man in the eyes in a game of chicken where Moore refuses to blink.

A powerful doc, but honestly pretty depressing. Columbine was horrifying, and the clips they use are a nightmare, but then I googled and saw that there have been almost 400 school shootings since then, and gun violence is still the number one killer of children in America. Baffling stuff. A sobering watch, but I think it holds up incredibly well.