NBC11.com - Entertainment - DVD Review: 'Fahrenheit 9/11'

NBC11.com - Entertainment - DVD Review: 'Fahrenheit 9/11'"Fahrenheit 9/11" (R): Let's just take care of that burning sense of curiosity right away: If you're a conservative, you'll hate Michael Moore's searing documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" (if you choose to see it, that is). And if you're a liberal (you've probably seen it already), you'll love it.

If you don't fall on either side of the great political divide and somehow missed what the hubbub is all about, Moore's film is an indictment of President George W. Bush and his handling of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the Iraq war. And, according to Moore, it isn't pretty. In a nutshell, he claims the war in Iraq is not really a response to Sept. 11 and another mission in the war on terror, but instead a greedy ploy that's all about the almighty value of oil and money -- and our servicemen and servicewomen, among others, are paying the price.

The film, which essentially was made by Moore to justify his controversial Oscar speech in 2003, pushes several political hot buttons: from the disputed 2000 presidential election, Bush's military records and the business ties between the Bush and bin Laden families; to the climate of fear (unspecified threats of terror in the homeland and Saddam's WMDs) that got Americans to back the war in Iraq, the press' failure to ask tough questions, the allegations of war profiteering and the conclusion there are no links there were ties between Sept. 11 and Saddam Hussein.

In the end, Moore basically says that we've all been had. But for the sake of argument, even if only half of what Moore claims in the film turns out to be true (he backs up his findings on his Web site), his findings are still pretty compelling (ironically, Charles Duelfer's report to Congress this week that no WMDs have been produced in Iraq since 1991 came a day after the movie debuted on DVD).

Moore knows that he has a powerful medium on his hands in film -- where viewers' emotions can be manipulated through music and expertly edited footage -- and he takes full advantage of it with "Fahrenheit 9/11." On top of that, he punctuates many scenes with biting sarcasm.