It's obviously a lot more impressive that Kevin saw the film and I have to take my hat off to him for that. And to Tammy as well, as that was not an easy film to watch at times and the proper response to Lila losing her son was tears. I agree with Kevin that she was the heart of the film. Moore's tone is, in general, sarcastic but Lila spoke for a lot of people in a very open, honest and direct way. It was very painful to watch and I know that some question if Mr. Moore was "using" her and her pain. I would have to say he was not. This is probably my only large disagreement with what Kevin had to say about the film. He pictured Moore smirking off camera at this, knowing he got the payoff shot. I really don't think he's that cold and I think he gave her a voice in the film because she's the kind of person who would never get that sort of platform and what she had to say was so powerful.

I also think Lila's time on screen is a direct response to our government playing down the soldiers coming home in flag draped boxes. Moore made a point of showing soldiers that had lost limbs and those who were wounded. An item that is never covered in the mainstream media and I'm sure these people feel that they have been forgotten. An easy bit of math for those who get their figures from the tv http://news:

Take the number of dead soldiers and multiply by 10 and it's amazing how close this number is to the actual number that have been wounded or injured in this war.

The number will probably be low but as an estimate, a conservative estimate, you can figure 10 soldiers wounded to every one killed. Simple really but never discussed. I think Moore wanted to cover that ground. Here's something else Moore sort of left out, we look at this "war" in a very one sided way in this country and focus heavily on our own dead or wounded. Moore does show footage of innocent Iraqis that have been killed, wounded, or lost family members. Nobody gives figures for this though. These people are never calculated into the "cost of war", at least not here in the United States. I wonder if Moore looked for these numbers or if they can even be found.

Most of what's covered in the film has all been well covered and discussed, even here on this board. So there really are no great surprises or stunning new facts presented. Moore just creates a sort of "greatest hits" package where all this info is compressed and thrown at you rapid fire. I was a bit surprised by this. I thought he'd have something we had not heard.

I agree with Kevin and other reviewers in that this should probably not be called a documentary. It's a non fiction film and I think more of an editorial than anything else. Something I think people miss about the film is that it's not just hard on Bush. Moore also goes after the Democrats and is not too kind to the Senate or House. I think people focus on the Bush stuff and yes, that is the main focus but it's not all there is to the film. The overall all picture at the end is how the poor, the little guy, always gets the shaft and how this country seems built on that principal. That we need the poor and uneducated to do the dirty work for those of us that are better off. It's a harsh message and I bet many people don't see it at the end and just walk out having had a few laughs at Bush or thinking he's an asshole and he's our biggest problem.

One item that really struck me in the film was the soldier who told Moore he would go to jail before he'd go back to Iraq and kill poor people that never did anything to him. He's the same soldier that walks around with Moore asking these bozo politicians if they will send their kids to Iraq. The poor guy does not look like he's enjoying Moore's antics but that's easily missed when you're laughing at these idiots who actually run away from Moore. I think that's a moment any Bill O'Reilly fan would enjoy, politicians being asked a question they want nothing to do with and you actually get to see them run away.

I have to say there was one moment when I was watching this I thought of Kevin G. It was when the older Iraqi woman was screaming into the camera that God should punish us for bombing and killing innocents. It was a heartbreaking moment and what I saw was a good and decent God fearing person suffering horribly. She said, I believe, that she had lost 5 family members in this attack. I guess it was the way she called on God to punish, and really believed God would I think, the evildoers who had done this. I thought Kevin G and that Iraqi woman could probably, in different circumstances, be good friends. Kevin believing the wrath of God will someday strike down those who had and or supported abortions...the woman believing God would strike down those who killed her family. Both God fearing, both decent, both probably believing abortion is wrong too. I'm just guessing that woman probably would have seen abortion as insane. It was a good moment in the film for me because I thought it showed how none of us are that far apart. I don't know if others saw it that way but I did think of you Kevin and wondered how you would have seen it.

So does the film distort the truth? Only in as much as Moore tells it how he wants to tell it. The film is not full of lies but there are certainly some sly manipulations. The worst of which from my perspective was the montage of happy, fun, peaceful Iraq. It's not that I think that was a lie. I'm sure Iraq and its people had many days like that because even the poor and oppressed go about their daily business and live their lives. It just went a little over the top with the kid flying his kite then cut right to bombs falling on Baghdad. I just think trying to sell this idyllic image of Iraq was dumb. There are many things in the film people should be aware of and I find that an important aspect of this film but it is told in Moore's sarcastic, stand-up comic style a good deal of the time. Perhaps the comedy and his style is the spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down, as Kevin might say. Maybe people wouldn't flock to the multiplex to see this if they weren't going to get some laughs. I know it's Moore's sarcasm that grates on people the most but it's probably also what wins him fans.

I went to see the film alone yesterday and couldn't get into the first two shows because they were sold out. I bought a ticket to the third show and it also sold out. At the end of the film the whole audience stood and gave a standing ovation which went on for about five minutes. People also took up a chant of "Don't forget to vote", which continued as we exited the theatre. It was like being at a rock concert more than a film. I was impressed by that and the sense of community the film seemed to instill in the audience. The other thing that struck me was how much Bush is disliked and disrespected. From the scenes in the film where they egg his inauguration parade and the limo has to speed off to get Bush to safety (for the first time they had to break tradition and Bush could not walk the final steps to the White House) to the crowd leaving this film chanting. This is the most despised president in our history and it left me with a feeling that there is no chance in Hell that this guy could win this election. The feeling I got was the media has played only a small part in this. He was despised from day one when they threw eggs at him. I don't think Moore's film will add much to fuel to this fire because it doesn't say anything most of us already knew. It just adds his sense of humor to the debate.

I guess the last thing I would say is those that will attack Moore and this film should, if they want to call him a liar, attack the information presented in the film. Those who just call Moore fat and a liar and attack the way he presents his information are ignoring the facts the film leaves on the table. There is plenty to attack if you want to complain about how he presents these facts but there is little to say about the facts themselves it seems. Is Moore fair? Not at all. He seems too angry to be fair. I don't blame him for this but it will only make the debate hotter not better.