Customer Reviews

The Awful Truth - The Complete DVD Set (Seasons 1 & 2)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Michael Moore is a very unique individual,film-maker,and writer. Not because of what he believes in, as I am sure there are millions out there who share these beliefs(his chart topping books and films attest to that),it is rather because of his more than a decade long unrelenting dedication to get his message through to as many viewers and readers as he possibly can,with a rare sense purpose,irony,and poignant sarcasm.
He is concerned about many issues that he finds are wrong with American society, from guns, corrupt politicians, greedy corporations and unfounded or distorted myths about minorities be it African Americans or gays.
The Awful Truth is his successful TV series, produced for UK's channel 4, and in which not only he addresses yet again the issues he feels so strongly about,but most importantly and this is vital, he CONFRONTS them as well in any way he feels possible,of course all dressed up nicely in his unwavering humour.
I see Michael Moore as a sort of modern day Robin Hood, for although he does not steal from the rich to give to the poor,he rather exposes, embarasses the priviledged few and present it to the ordinary man and woman.For example the episode where he tries to help the illegal Mexicans who were about to be deported because the hotel they worked for informed the INS on them after they formed a union (and not before!) and succeeding in not only keeping the illegals in the country after petitions, but getting his own back at the hotel for violation of health and building codes, this was a triumph for the underdog against the double standards and exploitation they faced.
Or the episode where he stages a fake funeral for a dying man who needs a life saving transplant his insurance company refuses to pay for, while exposing the huge profits that company made. When the comapny finally agrees to cover the operation and the patient in the audience greets Moore with tears in his eyes, this too is a huge triumph.
In this sense I see him as a modern Robin Hood.
Awful is the last word to describe this wonderful series..It will make you laugh your head off, while opening your eyes and thinking..hard..

i've watched many of these episodes and found them at times funny at other times heartwrenching but most improtantly informative. a lot of people complain that michael moore is biased or that he spends all of his time conserative bashing etc, etc. but i think that they miss the fundamental points that he is making. take bowling for columbine i found it less of an anti-gun movie and more of an anti-fear movie. his message was that when you allow yourself to get caught up in the hype, you sign away your rights and your freedoms. when you get in a panic and you start to believe that the sky is falling or the russians are coming then you let your fear control you and you ignore the real problems. American healthcare and schools systems and city infrastucture and crime and poverty all these things are huge huge issues that have more of an impact on your day to day life than terrorism will ever have, but they get swept under the rug. the military gets more money than anything else yet there are little children starving in AMERICA. People dying becasue they can't afford to be healthy in AMERICA. That is Michael Moore's message, and you don't have to have a college education, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. Corperations running the counrty and ruining lives and the enviroment raking in record profits, but the little everyday working man starving on the street becasue he's just been downsized/rightsized. yes, it is indeed very scary that such a large scale terrorist attack happened so close to home but the very minute you let fear control your life you forfeit your freedom, you forfeit what your forefathers worked so hard and died to achieve, America is a country built on ideals - Peace, Equality, Freedom, and they should never be forgotten, pushed aside etc. That's what michael moore's message is.

First, I just want to say that I tend to be politically conservative, but I usually enjoy Michael Moore's work for what it is - entertainment engineered with a political slant. It's nothing more and nothing less than that.

That said, these reviews should be for Michael Moore's show "The Awful Truth". I have watched almost all of these episodes for the show's two year run. The first year's shows were shot before a live audience and you can hear the audience laughing at Moore's clips. The second year of shows were filmed in Times Square with no audience. The episodes for the first year were more humorous, with the majority of the clips focused on corporate issues and crooks. Highlights include a group of people who had lost their voice boxes to cancer from smoking singing Christmas carols to tabacco companies and their lobbyists, Moore's trek to many Manpower temporary offices to see how the employees would react to his visit (since Moore got his hands on an internal memo from Manpower instructing employees how to deal with Moore if he showed up to their offices) and the adventures of Crackers the Crime Fighting Chicken at Disney World. There were many enjoyable moments in the first season of shows.

The second season, maybe because there is no audience, seems much, much darker than the first. Not a lot of laughs in the second year. As an example, a story is done about a healthcare facility that had been fined for poor care of the elderly. One of Moore's reporters gets a group of elderly folks together and takes them to a martial arts instructor for lessons. The newly trained elderly martial arts masters are then taken to the offices of said healthcare provider to show them what they can expect if they ever try to mistreat older people in the future. And we are treated to a display of 75+ year old people trying to do punches and leg kicks. It was actually so ridiculous that it was painful to watch. There's many more misses than hits in year two, which probably explains why there was no year three.

I would recommend the first year of shows for anybody who enjoys a little over-the-top political and corporate humor. The second year is a little harder to recommend. It just isn't that funny, in general.

I recently purchased this set because I had never seen the show in my area. Unlike many of Moore's more recent work, "The Awful Truth" is less partisian and more eloquently zeroes in on the issues that form the nucleus of Moore's agenda, which is about people and not parties. In fact, this series, most of which was produced while Clinton was in the White House, often targets the democrats and issues surrounding Clinton or the government's policy. Unlike his opponents, Michael Moore is not blindly allied to any political party as evidenced in this series.

That's not to say Moore doesn't have an agenda, or doesn't tackle controversial issues. He most certainly does. And he demonstrates how intelligent and creative he is in touching upon very sensitive issues, making people think, via humor.

The first episode of "The Awful Truth" is a great example. It consists of two segments. In the first one, Michael addresses the overblown Starr investigation against Clinton (which cost taxpayers $50+ million) and proposes that if the Republicans want a "witch hunt", he can do it cheaper and more efficiently, and that's exactly what he does. Hilarity ensues as Moore assembles a group of Salem-era "pilgrims" in period costume to parade across capital hill passing judgement on the plethora of hypocritical adulterous politicians. Do not drink any liquids while viewing this segment or they'll end up all over your living room -- you've been warned.

The second segment is even more powerful, and it's required watching for anyone who is prejudiced against Michael Moore. I showed this clip to a friend who "hates" Moore and at the end she was crying. Her opinion of the man will forever be changed. That's how powerful the segment is, where Michael Moore follows a young man who's HMO refused to pay for an operation he needs to save his life, and Michael and his people descend upon the corporate offices vowing to not give up until this young man gets the pancreas transplant he desperately needs. In the end, Michael wins, the young man's life is saved, and the HMO reverses their policy on this issue. It's clear evidence that Michael Moore has actually saved at least one man's life, and who knows how many others through his lobbying for humane healthcare policies. I challenge anyone to watch this segment and content that Michael Moore isn't one of the true people left who is really looking out for the common man. NOBODY who can malign the man could possibly have viewed this segment.

That's just the first two spots on this extensive DVD collection. And that's just the beginning... get this series and get it for all your friends - you won't be sorry.

Forget what you saw at the Oscars! This is Michael Moore at his best. He really sticks it to the giant corporations and the U.S. government and he makes us laugh while doing it. If you're going to pick up any TV shows on DVD, make it "The Awful Truth"!

ARGH! I can't stand it when people who have never seen the series rate it low because they don't like Michael Moore. Even if you don't like his politics, he takes on a lot of great, completely non-partisan issues and problems- heck, first episode, he gets a guy a kidney transplant paid for by Humana. He tackles some great social stuff, and it's definitely worth buying.
And as far as Moore himself- nobody who says that they hate Moore has actually ever seen any of his works.

"TV Nation" was Moore's earlier venture into TV journalism, and in some significant ways it was better.

As Moore got "bigger," he lost some of the sparkle he displayed in earlier movies and TV efforts.

But, that carping aside, this series is pretty good. Mike launches this from Times Square in, say, 4 am, and manages to field a good-sized audience for his intros and outros in the city that never sleeps. He uses a series of good "stringers" and Mikey wannabes to conduct the heavy-lifting, but I really do Miss Jeaneane Garofalo from "TV Nation."

I use his segment on the New London, Connecticut police department in teaching graduate class in Human Resources. The city of New London gave an IQ test to applicants for police patrol officer jobs, and used an "upper cut score." In other words, if you score too high, you're screened out. The story grew out of a famous [unsuccessful] lawsuit filed by Robert Jordan, protesting his exclusion from a patrolman job because he scored too high. It's great for the students to see how a company can win a lawsuit but lose in the court of public opinion...

Anyway, it's a fun series, but it is expensive, and "TV Nation" was better...

But effective nonetheless. From the first episode you get the tone of the rest of the series, as Moore tries to get a dying man a needed transplant to save his live from an HMO that wouldn't cover the operation. Then he holds a rehersal funeral in front of the HMO's building. Other favorites include: running a ficus tree against an unopposed congressman, putting a webcam feed into the appartment of the lady that convinced Linda Tripp to tape her phone calls, and handing out day glow orange wallets to black people because there were reports that police shot a man reaching for his black wallet, ehrn they though it was a gun.

I'll admit, Moore's point gets lost easially as he makes a public display out of himself, but that's half the fun, making the show both entertaining and thought provoking. There are comments about him being socialist or comunist, and to them I say, "what's your point?" Hey, if you can look into the eyes of the above paitent and say to them "you have to die because I;m unwilling to alter my capitalist ideals" then there is little I can say to change your opinions and you can just label this review as not helpful and move on.

To the rest of us, sit back, enjoy, and then try to make the world a better place for everyone, if for no other reason than to save yourself in the long run. America was founded by revolution of the poor upon the monarchay in Europe, and now those that would rebel have semi-automatics, and are close enough to do some real damage.

Without rehashing all of the details concerning the many stellar episodes on this 4 DVD set, let me say this. Michael Moore is truly a caring American patriot with a proper sense of justice, who has the balls to 'tell it like it is' in exposing some of the many wrongs and injustices in our society. The content is often disturbing and often funny as heck. Moore is a genius at using sarcasm and humor to rouse up concern regarding important, real life topics like poverty, homelessness, corporate crime, job loss, police abuse, deteriorating city schools, healthcare, etc. etc. 'The Awful Truth' is easily one of the best, most brutally honest and brilliant moments in American TV history! Folks, do not miss these episodes, especially now that they're out on DVD. Beg, borrow, steal, rent, or buy 'The Awful Truth' series. It's THAT GOOD!!!

Michael Moore pushes to show people the truth about this country. He's been doing it for over 10 years and is an acclaimed author as well as director. This guy breeds controversy like no other person out there. Some might hate him because he never went to college and criticizes those who went to ivy league schools. Some might hate him because they can't handle his views. And some just hate him because that's what Bill O'Reilly tells them to do. This box set will open your eyes to the truth. It will also make you laugh, very loudly at times. I recommend this box set very highly as well as everything produced by Mr. Moore.