Product Details

• Actors: James Bond (IV), Pat Boone, Anita Bryant, Karen Edgely, Bob Eubanks
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 25, 1994
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (174 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301691687
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,978 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Roger and Me is a loose, smart-alecky documentary directed and narrated by Michael Moore, an everyman host with a devastating wit and a working-class pose. When his hometown is devastated by the plant closure of an American corporate giant (making record profits, one should note), the hell-raising political commentator with a prankster streak tries to turn his camera on General Motors Chairman Roger B. Smith, the elusive Roger of the title, and the film is loosely structured around Moore's odyssey to track down the corporate giant for an interview.

While Moore ambushes his corporate subjects like a blue-collar Geraldo Rivera, a guerrilla interviewer who treasures his comic rebuffs as much as his interviews, his portraits of the colorful characters he meets along the way can be patronizing. The famous come off as absurdly out of touch (Anita Bryant appears for some can-do cheerleading, and hometown celebrity Bob Eubanks tells some boorish jokes), and the disenfranchised poor (notably an unemployed woman who sells rabbit meat to make ends meet) all too often appear as buffoons or hicks. But behind his loose play with the facts and snarky attitude is a devastating look at the victims of downsizing in the midst of the 1980s economic boom. This portrait of Reagan's America and the tarnish on the American dream comes down to a simple question: what is corporate America's responsibility to the country's citizens? That's a question no one at GM wants to answer. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe this movie is even more powerful in 2004?, October 30, 2004

By 

JGC - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Roger & Me [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've seen all of MM's movies and this is one of his very best.

His first movie, "Roger & Me" is perhaps his best. Michael Moore is the voice to the voiceless in this true story about big business taking advantage of the little guy. GM closes it's factories in Flint, MI putting thousands of people out of work. The entire film revolves around the hardworking people of Flint as well as Moore's quest to find GM CEO, Roger Smith.

The movie is 15 years old, nevertheless it is still extremely realistic. We still have the same issues concerning the sluggish economy and corporate downsizing. Maybe the movie is even more powerful in 2004?

Michael Moore is a genius and I hope he will keep speaking up for the everyday workers of America. If you're interested in other Michael Moore projects I also recommend the movie Bowling for Columbine & the book Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American.

47 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bunnies for pets,......or rabbits for meat?, September 17, 2002

By 

"patrick_mcknight" (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roger & Me [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This hilarious, disturbing, and completely original documentary launched its director, Michael Moore to fame. Moore's film shows what happens when General Motors decides to close down its plant in Flint, Michigan. 30,000 people lose their jobs and Flint's economy plunges into depression.

The film details Moore's attempt to get an interview with GM head Roger Smith to show him what he did to Flint. Instead, Moore is given the run-around as he is informed that Smith is out, unavailable, or busy.

Undaunted, Moore points his camera at the people of Flint to show us the viewers what GM did to Flint. We are shown a man who suffered a mental breakdown after losing his job. We are shown a spaced-out woman who has formed a most interesting business to ward off unemployment. We are treated to pictures of the upper class living in complete oblivion to the poverty surrounding them ("Get a job!" one woman informs Moore). We are informed that the crime rate has skyrocketed in Flint since the plant shut down. But not to worry, this provides a new source of employment. Laid-off employees can now get jobs as security guards locking up their former co-workers.

A few scenes that really stood out in my mind: One was the way the sheriff goes from house to house evicting people with a bored expression on his face. When Moore questions him about how he feels about doing this, the sheriff looks completely baffled. Instead, he talks about how he is looking forward to his upcoming holiday. Doesn't he realize he's on camera? Another scene that stands out, the people of Flint trying to offset unemployment by developing a theme park dedicated to celebrating Flint's GM heritage. When the park fails to attract tourists, the people are left looking pretty stupid.

There's also that scene where Ronald Reagan shows up to treat the unemployed workers to pizza and give them a lecture about finding employment. He then forgets to pick up the check.

It's important to realize that GM didn't close the plant in Flint because they were in an economic downturn, but because they didn't want to spend a little extra money keeping people employed. GM devastated Flint's economy so that the people at the top could get a little richer. Moore's film transcends being just a revenge comedy and becomes a stinging indictment of the dark side of capitalism.

You can't help but feel that Roger Smith would have been better off if he'd agreed to the interview. Instead, Michael Moore chose to point his camera at Flint, giving Smith a much more damning indictment than an interview ever could.

I'll be looking forward to seeing Moore's new film "Bowling for Columbine" when it's released in October. I hope its as good as this film.

46 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is how a documentary should be made, June 3, 2002

By 

George H. Zinn (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roger & Me [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When I attended the premiere screening of Roger & Me at the Sundance Film Festival several years ago, things were already abuzz about this controversial film, and it was making headlines in movie trades, newspapers, talk shows, and social circles, about this unconventional unknown teddy bear of a guy named Michael Moore who set out with just Bingo winnings and a camera in the pretense of getting a personal audience with GM Chairman Roger Smith, and offer Mr. Smith a tour of the deteriorating town where "rats exceeded its population" and was named the worst city to live in by Money magazine. The film is a daring and cynical poke at a capitalistic system that, with smugness and phony piety, can turn out and lay off 30,000 factory workers for the sheer purpose of profit. But, rather than giving in to the easy way of anger and resentment, Michael Moore retorts with a gentle and entertaining masterpiece, a splendid statement, rich in irony, humor, and pathos, that should be viewed by anyone whose social conscience has been impinged by what so many people pursue as the "American Dream". But this American Dream is work hard, the company makes money - and you lose your job. If I had more than 2 thumbs, they would go way up for this highly provocative film!!