Moore unveils 'Sicko'

Helmer screens 20 mins of TWC doc

By GABRIEL SNYDER

Moore

TORONTO -- It took some perseverance, but those who sat through more than two hours of often meandering on-stage conversations and technical difficulties got the first glimpse of Michael Moore's next doc, "Sicko," about the broken U.S. health care system.

The three "Sicko" clips he showed totaled to around 20 minutes worth of footage, but they did give hints, along with some of Moore's comments from on-stage, of the direction he is going with the doc.

The Weinstein Co. plans to release it next June.

As with his Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine," in which U.S. obsession with guns and violence were used as a prism to question the moral values of the nation, so too will "Sicko" look at health care in the nation as a test of national character.

During his talk, lightly moderated by "Borat" helmer Larry Charles, Moore refashioned the NRA's old anti-gun control slogan: "Guns don't kill people, Americans kill people."

In the first clip, several Americans told their nightmares of dealing with health insurance companies, starting with an older Bingo-playing woman who was rushed from the Bingo hall to the E.R. after suffering a heart attack. Her insurer said that her case didn't represent an emergency situation.

The second clip focused on Canadians who fear crossing the American border and leaving their country's universal coverage behind and face financial ruin if they require health care during their U.S. visit. Some of Moore's relatives who live across in Canada are filmed saying they would never step foot across the border without first buying supplementary coverage.

The last clip didn't deal with health care at all, but rather an idyllic Norwgian island -- which turns out to be a prison colony where inmates who committed crimes include rape and murder are allowed to roam pretty much free. The clip closed with a stat that said Norway has the lowest murder rate in the developed world.

Moore tied them all together afterward, saying "I think you can judge a society by how well it treats its least. Americans, we're filled with anger and revenge and beating up on those who have it the hardest. These issues won't change until we change who we are at our core."

Earlier in the evening, two clips from another doc-in-progress, "The Great '04 Slacker Uprising" which was shot during Moore's election-year tour to rally college kids to vote for John Kerry, were stopped midway through because of poor sound quality.

Though they didn't show much more than brief glimpses of Moore in front of crowds of kids, he did clear up one question about the project saying that he had discussed with the Weinsteins putting "Slacker Uprising" on DVD. After the 2004 election, the country, he said, could "use a little pick-me-up."

The Weinstein Company has been mum about any plans to release the material.

Despite the delays and technical problems, the Friday night crowd in Toronto was adoring and gave him two standing ovations -- including after he came on stage following the playing of his Oscar acceptance speech for "Columbine" -- much of his comments and anecdotes were recycled.

Toronto Film Fest, perhaps more than any other fest, is Moore's stomping ground, both because of Canadian political sensibilities as well as the fact that "Roger & Me" preemed here.

But when technical difficulties set in he did make a few jibes at the fest, referencing the aborted Thursday night preem of "Borat," telling Charles and the aud after the first time a clip had to be turned off, "This is like last night all over again."