98 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
docu-commentary: all the pros for wal-mart, none of the cons, January 11, 2006
This review is from: Why Wal*Mart Works and why this makes some people C-R-A-Z-Y! (DVD)
This film pulls together all of the arguments in favor of wal-mart. There is also a very interesting conclusion on the undeniable good work that the company did in summer 2005 in the Katrina-ravaged regions. However, none of the legitimate concerns of critics are given any thoughtful review. I say this as a concerned conservative, who wants to understand the enormous changes occuring in my country, and not a liberal.
On the plus side, it is hard to argue against the business model of wal-mart: it offers everyday low prices, which the company accomplishes by incredible and continual productivity gains - by some measures wal-mart is responsible for 25% of the productivity gains in the US due to its use of new technologies! - as well as vast scale economies in particular with globalisation. Regardless of what critics say, these factors are the basis of the company's success: consumers chose to buy there because of the prices and convenience.
However, this is the point when the film becomes disingenuous. Anything that critics say is summarily dismissed by either a single and simplistic example, by some self-appoined talking head, by employees who like their jobs, or simply by people passing by on the street. I found this pathetically unconvincing. For example, because wal-mart is criticised as a destructive force against traditional town centers, the filmmakers find one town that was able to renew itself as a tourist spot with boutiquie stores and then assumes that that can happen everywhere (but the site was in the Blue Mountains, not in the Oklahoma dustbowl). No statistics are offered, no additional proof, and no counter-arguments are acknowledged.
Moreover, it is easy to find people to spout the opinion you want to espouse by looking for them - to be sure, wal-mart critics do the same, but there are some critics who act like journalists and try to see what truth there is in the arguments advanced. This film does not. At one point, the filmakers interview a group of teenagers who state wal-mart wages would "enough" for them (none of them work there), as if that refutes the experience of single mothers trying to make ends meet on wal-mart salaries! They also get a few people to state that they never get asked to work overtime wothout pay as if that eliminates the need to investigate the claims of thousands of others who are winning multi-million dollar class-action lawsuits against that practice in their wal-marts.
Finally, some of the talking heads make the most ridiculous arguments. One of them dismissed all the arguments of critics who charge that wal-mart urges its workers to use the welfare system as "those who advocate government health care anyway" - as if that negates their arguments! By glossing over the details, they don't even make the case in favor of the wal-mart business model all that well, let alone consider how the intallation of a wal-mart impacts entire communities.
As such, this film is for the convinced, for those who want to have their opinions reinforced rather than challenged. That makes it like Fox news at its worst: you know what you are going to get before you switch it on - pure opinion and little reporting - so why bother? It isn't for learning. The costs behind wal-mart's methods are not even open to question. The one thing I took away from this is the sincerity of some of the employees, who genuinely believed in the company.
Overall, I cannot recommend this film, except as a pure ideological view in favor of this controversial company. This doesn't do anyone any good - there is no chance for dialogue in this approach, no acknowledgment that critics can make legitimate points. Whether powerful companies like it or not, they do not automatically deserve our trust, but instead our critical and constant scrutiny.
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31 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
No Closed Captions!, January 17, 2006
This review is from: Why Wal*Mart Works and why this makes some people C-R-A-Z-Y! (DVD)
The film I bought at a retail outlet in Spokane WA contains no closed captions! If I had known that, I wouldn't have bought it. The box should have contained a clear message: No Closed Captions! (Parenthetically, Amazon.com's description indicates the film IS Closed Captioned.)
The content of the film is shallow, and it doesn't really address the issues raised in the more fully supported Greenwald film, Walmart, the High Cost of Low Price.
If closed captions are not an issue, however, buy (or rent) *both* films to draw your own conclusion. Obviously, the truth about Walmart's impact on US cities and third world communities is somewhere between the images presented in these two films. I found the Greenwald film much more convincing.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unless you work at Wal-Mart, skip it, March 25, 2008
This review is from: Why Wal*Mart Works and why this makes some people C-R-A-Z-Y! (DVD)
First, please note that Robert J. Crawford's review gives an accurate and detailed assessment of this film, so I'll keep my own review brief.
As Robert and others have pointed out, this film's takes what promised to be an interesting look at one of the major economic forces of the past decade and sugar coats it until there's no flavor left. Enough said.
Well, except this. One should be careful to distinguish between a film review (which this is) and a corporate review (which this is not). I've no issue with shopping at Wal-Mart, and am rather interested in seeing how we as a nation and as a species respond to Wal-Mart's effects on our economies and our cultures. At the same time "Why Wal-Mart Works" neither enlightens nor entertains. In fact, it would probably be a better use of your time to visit a Wal-Mart than to watch this movie.
Therefore my summary recommendation: take the 72 minutes you would have spent on the couch with this movie and do something inspiring with the extra hour+ you've just gained!
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