''Captain Mike Across America'' is a film written, directed and narrated by

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

. It was filmed prior to the 2004 election, when the polling margin between candidates

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

could have tipped either way. It debuted at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 7 and 8, 2007. The film was re-edited by Moore into ''Slacker Uprising'', which was released for free on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

on September 23, 2008. It is one of the first feature-length films made by a known director to be released as both a free and legal downloadable online movie. The free download is only available to those residing in the United States and Canada. The film was also made available free for online viewing and download on the Lycos Cinema platform as well as

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and blip.tv. It had a one-night-only run at the Michigan Theater, where Michael Moore spoke briefly. The film is available in DVD format. ''Slacker Uprising'' features live performances or appearances by

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

(of

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

Roseanne Barr Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952), also known mononymously as Roseanne, is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy before gaining acclaim in the television sitcom ''Roseanne'' (19 ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...

(of

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

, Steve Earle, and

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received nominations for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Mortensen made his film debut with a small role in ...

. The original score is by

Anti-Flag Anti-Flag was an American punk rock band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1988. The band was known for its left-wing politics, left-wing political activism. For the majority of the band's career, their members included Justin Sane (voc ...

Critical reception

''Captain Mike Across America'' premiered at the

to lackluster reviews. Most critics alleged that it served as little more than self-promotion for Moore. Joe Leydon of '' Variety'' magazine wrote: "One could easily carve an interesting hour-long documentary out of ''Captain Mike Across America'', Michael Moore's ungainly account of his "Slacker Uprising" campaign to encourage young people to vote for John Kerry—and, more importantly, against George W. Bush—during the 2004 U.S. presidential election. In its current form, however, this repetitious and self-indulgent hodgepodge comes across as a nostalgia-drenched vanity project, with far too much footage of various celebs at assorted gatherings introducing Moore as the greatest thing since sliced bread." Will Sloan of '' Inside Toronto'' wrote: "This is probably Moore’s least-compelling film from a cinematic point of view. It plays not so much like a movie, or even a concert film, as a highlight reel. The film builds little momentum as it goes along, and it has virtually none of the drama that characterized his previous films. The pacing essentially never changes. There are some good moments, including a genuinely hilarious scene where Moore offers up some alternatives to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads ("If John Kerry really loved his country, he would have died"), and if you're a Moore devotee, you'll find it mildly interesting, but if you're not, there isn't much to keep you riveted." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

29% of 17 reviews were positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10.

References

External links

Michael Moore official site

Toronto International Film Festival listing
* {{Michael Moore American documentary films Documentary films about American politics Films directed by Michael Moore American independent films 2004 United States presidential election in popular culture 2007 films 2007 documentary films 2007 independent films Documentary films about elections in the United States 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films English-language independent films