The Salt Lake Tribune -- MOVIES: Documentary genre heats up -- and not just 'Fahrenheit 9/11'

The Salt Lake Tribune -- MOVIES: Documentary genre heats up -- and not just 'Fahrenheit 9/11': "Say what you want about Michael Moore -- and people have been saying plenty as his 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is set to open nationwide this Friday -- but it's hard to deny the Michigan muckraker's role in making the multiplexes safe for documentary films.

Note what has happened in the documentary genre in the two years since Moore's 'Bowling for Columbine' hit theaters. The notoriety of that 2002 polemic about gun violence may have gotten the attention of talk-radio hosts. But it was the $21 million in ticket sales -- a record for a documentary (not counting the specialized market of large-format films), and seven times the movie's $3 million budget -- that got Hollywood interested. (For all the talk about 'Hollywood liberals,' the truth is the movie industry is first and foremost a business.)

In 2002, by my count, only 14 documentaries, including 'Columbine,' had theatrical runs in Salt Lake City. Last year, 23 documentaries unspooled in Salt Lake City. In the first six months of 2004, we have already had 16 documentaries screen here -- 'Fahrenheit 9/11' will make 17 -- and more are slated in the second half.

Why the upsurge? For one thing, Moore's success showed 'the suits' that there was money in documentaries -- and, as with any other genre, Hollywood is quick to try to imitate success. "

Sean P. Means
Movies Columnist
The Salt Lake Tribune