"Fahrenheit 9/11" : the film review

[Uncle Chô]

Since this is a movie / documentary the question is not "I like / hate M. Moore" but : " is it good / entertaining / informative? "

Here is a review by James Berardinelli who's job is to review ...movies ;)


The primary goal of Fahrenheit 9/11 is obvious: offer evidence that President George W. Bush is an incompetent moron and that his administration is corrupt. One might argue that filmmaker Michael Moore does an adequate job of this, except that, to anyone who follows politics, there's nothing new about those charges. Bush has often shown that, as president, he's in over his head. He has never hidden his lack of intelligence. (How else to explain his constant mis****unciation of "nuclear" as "nucular?") And corruption goes along with politics like peppermint canes go with Christmas trees. One expects more from Moore than the mere regurgitation of well-documented material. We want insight, not surface-skimming. The Supreme Court decided the 2000 election? We know that. Bin Laden's family members were flown out of the United States at a time when planes were grounded? That has been reported in magazines and papers, and is general knowledge. There's strong evidence of a financial connection between Bin Laden's family and Bush? We first heard about that shortly after 9/11. Bush's real goal in the so-called "War on Terrorism" was to force a regime change in Iraq? No surprise.

The real problem with Fahrenheit 9/11 isn't that it attacks the current Republican administration (which could be seen as a public service), but that it does so clumsily and with poor focus. Moore does much of his preaching with a paucity of facts, relying on circumstantial evidence and insinuation to make his points. And too little of his information is fresh. As flawed as Bowling for Columbine might have been, it was challenging and thought-provoking. It provided opportunities for debates and dialogue about gun control and school violence. Fahrenheit 9/11 offers little more than a repetitive, two-hour attack on Bush. It's not compelling; in fact, there are times when it's not especially interesting. I went into this movie expecting to be engaged. I left it bemoaning the fact that I had spent $11.50 on parking.

Three segments redeem Fahrenheit 9/11, allowing it to claim to be more than just a list of anti-Bush charges. The first is the videotaped footage of Bush in Florida's Booker Elementary School, reading "My Pet Goat" for seven minutes after the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center. His face is a mask of bewilderment and indecision. It's clear that he has no idea what to do next, and he is waiting for one of his advisors to make a suggestion. It's not the portrait of a man any sane American would want in command. Later, Moore spends some time discussing how the seemingly-random changes in the multi-colored terror alert are used to manipulate people's panic. It's a worthwhile subject that gets short-shrift because the director is keen to move on to something else.

Finally, there are a series of interviews with Lila Lipscomb, whose son died in Iraq. Moore first films her when Michael is still alive, and she's a staunch patriot. Later, he returns so she can recount how her son died. She reads the final letter he sent to her, and makes a cathartic trek to Washington D.C. to see the White House and curse the man living inside. It's poignant material, but Moore's reputation robs this portion of his film of its potential power. Because we don't know how much of this is real.

Maybe it all is. Maybe Moore had the good fortune to interview this particular woman while her son was still alive, so he could capture her radical shift of allegiance afterwards. But his past argues that he might not be playing things straight. Moore has a longstanding history of manipulating the truth, and we have no way of assessing whether any doctoring has been done with the Lipscomb interviews. With another filmmaker, such as Errol Morris, we wouldn't question what's on screen. But Moore's reputation demands that we regard everything in his films with a healthy portion of skepticism. I was moved by the Lipscomb interviews, but a part of me didn't know whether to accept them as they are.

Moore has never been a cinematic marksman, but there has always been a sense that he's shooting at a well-defined target. That's not the case here. Fahrenheit 9/11 represents a barrage, with ammunition flying in all directions. The philosophy seems to be: expend enough bullets and you'll strike something. The movie jumps all over the place, with Moore scoring occasional hits, but never building the kind of damning case he is hoping for. Maybe the movie isn't long enough. Or maybe he didn't have access to enough material. Or maybe he was in such a rush to get this thing into the marketplace that he didn't care how inelegantly it was put together.

With Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore has toned down both his sarcastic comedy and his ego-driven penchant for being constantly on-screen. There are still moments of inspired humor, such as the caustic use of "The Magnificent Seven" theme and old Western clips to lampoon the attack on Afghanistan. And Moore is never far away from the camera's lens. He makes a few appearances, including a typical instance of grandstanding (when he tries to get members of Congress to sign up their children to serve in Iraq), but the narrative is delivered in his voice. He shows restraint and sensitivity when depicting the events of 9/11/01. We hear the audio while watching a black screen, then see a collage of reactions. We are not shown images of planes crashing into buildings. Those aren't necessary, because they are already burned into our memories.

Having now seen Fahrenheit 9/11, I wonder about the controversy. The movie isn't skilled enough or incisive enough to represent a cause for concern. Democrats will embrace it and Republicans will revile it, and, although the extremity of neither reaction is warranted, both are expected. But Fahrenheit 9/11 lacks the power to impact the huge block of undecided voters, and it is hubris on the parts of the filmmakers and distributors (both past and present) to believe such a thing. Considering the makeup of the festival jury, the Golden Palm win at Cannes is explicable, if not justifiable. The wave of publicity accompanying the release will draw audiences and inflate first weekend numbers. For Moore and those who have money invested in this project, that's a good thing, because this is not the kind of movie capable of attracting viewers on merit.


© 2004 James Berardinelli

More James Berardinelli reviews at http://www.movie-reviews.colossus.net/

[Fargin]

I had conserns that Fahrenheit 911 wasn't anything out of the ordenary. that it would only establish what we already know and Winning Palm D'Or was more a political statement and a favour from his co-worker Mr. Tarantino, than an actuall reward for an outstanding work of art.

A neutral review is much better ammunition against Michael Moore, than right-wing rhetorics about MM being a stupid, anti-american, fat ****.

[fdt]

Geeeez... 11,50$ for two hours parking...? America is heading for collapse... :cantbeli:

[Uncle Chô]

Geeeez... 11,50$ for two hours parking...? America is heading for collapse... :cantbeli:
Since the press projection was a special event I bet this was valet parking ;)

[Mudcat]

Maybe the movie isn't long enough. Or maybe he didn't have access to enough material. Or maybe he was in such a rush to get this thing into the marketplace that he didn't care how inelegantly it was put together.

...or maybe his fat @$$ should get a real job like the rest of us.

[Fargin]

I think he earns more, than you in wall-mart p-)

[Caribou Kid]

Perhaps showing the "My Pet Goat" segment has something that is representative of the whole aura of unease regarding movie...

You see...no one else has aired this actual footage in it's entirety, set in the correct context, like Moore has.
It is actual historical footage of George W. Bush, 43rd POTUS on the morning of September 11th, 2001, kinda like having real footage to show someone asking the old "where you were the day man landed on the moon?" sort of thing. But none of the "real" News Networks have emphasized/harped on the fact that the POTUS kept on reading goat tales to the kiddies (bad pun!) for minutes after the 2nd tower impact like Moore has. I suspect this perception of weakness on behalf of their Leader does not sit well in the craw of many Americans, and seeing it displayed so garishly on the silver screen will not further endear Moore into the hearts of some of his fellow countrymen.
But it is STILL what actually occurred that dreadful morning, plain for all to see,recorded in glorious living technicolor.
Does using this file footage make Moore anti-Bush, or just a Documentary film maker?

You watch the movie, and be your own judge, I reckon.... p-)

P.S. I have not seen the movie, so this particular scene in question may take on an entirely different context with a Moore voice-over track, or backing music track...Go see the film, and tell me if I'm wrong... ;)
I'll be happy to see what you think

[mi35d]

Or it could be Moore "adjusting" time frames and cross editing to make events look like the occured in linear time as compared to "Moore time" which is: take any clips you want, edit them anyway you want, add stock footage to make the out of sync clips look correct and then say that it happend in real time.

I've mentioned this before. He did this with Charlton Heston. The interview was about 45 minutes. But in Bowling for Columbine he said that he interviewed CH for only 5 minutes. He was too much of a pompous jackass to notice a clock in the background that shows the interview clearly lasted more than the 5 minutes he used in the movie.

:bash:

When the footage won't fit his plan he just makes things up. Heck, look at the posted movie review. Here's a reviewer who clearly hates President Bush, but even he is sceptical about what Moore put in his movie.

[Mudcat]

I think he earns more, than you in wall-mart

I don't work for Wal~mart.

[Black Dots]

Although I generally like Michael Moore and his work, I too feel that his interview with Charlton Heston was a bit underhanded. The man has Alzheimer’s for God’s sake. More importantly, he has no real authority in the NRA. If Moore really wanted to make a point, he would have interviewed Wayne LaPierre.

[usa320]

i have more respect for someone making $7 an hour at wal-mart than this fat-communist-traitor slob making millions.

[Sir Zach of R.]

I have more respect for someone making $7 an hour at wal-mart than this fat-communist-traitor slob making millions.

Oh so true. :D

[Herrmannek]

.....t I bet this was valet parking ;)

Do you mean naked ? :)

[Black Dots]

In the interest of equal time, I will offer my own review of Michael Moore's new movie:

Blah blah fat blah blah fat blah blah slob blah blah fatso blah blah fat blah blah traitor blah blah fat.

[caleb]

You know that calling someone with a different opinion on your countries' politics a "traitor" is neither smart nor justified.

If you can't deal with other people's opinions, just say nothing at all. Calling them traitors is somewhat dangerous cause everybody with some education on history knows where this can lead to.

I'm not a fan of MM myself, not cause I disagree with his message, but becuase it's transfered too plain and easy.

Just a careful reminder...

[Vance]

In the interest of equal time, I will offer my own review of Michael Moore's new movie:

Blah blah fat blah blah fat blah blah slob blah blah fatso blah blah fat blah blah traitor blah blah fat.
Summed up that article real nice :D

[rokus2595]

Unruly Scorn Leaves Room for Restraint, but Not a Lot
By A. O. SCOTT

Respect for the president is a longstanding American tradition and one that is still very much alive, as the weeklong national obsequies for Ronald Reagan recently proved. But there is also an opposing tradition of holding up our presidents, especially while they are in office, to ridicule and scorn.

Which is to say that while Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" will be properly debated on the basis of its factual claims and cinematic techniques, it should first of all be appreciated as a high-spirited and unruly exercise in democratic self-expression. Mixing sober outrage with mischievous humor and blithely trampling the boundary between documentary and demagoguery, Mr. Moore takes wholesale aim at the Bush administration, whose tenure has been distinguished, in his view, by unparalleled and unmitigated arrogance, mendacity and incompetence.

That Mr. Moore does not like Mr. Bush will hardly come as news. "Fahrenheit 9/11," which opens in Manhattan today and in the rest of the country on Friday, is many things: a partisan rallying cry, an angry polemic, a muckraking inquisition into the use and abuse of power. But one thing it is not is a fair and nuanced picture of the president and his policies. What did you expect? Mr. Moore is often impolite, rarely subtle and occasionally unwise. He can be obnoxious, tendentious and maddeningly self-contradictory. He can drive even his most ardent admirers crazy. He is a credit to the republic.

While his new film, awarded the top prize at the Cannes International Film Festival this year, has been likened to an op-ed column, it might more accurately be said to resemble an editorial cartoon. Mr. Moore uses archival video images, rapid-fire editing and playful musical cues to create an exaggerated, satirical likeness of his targets. The president and his team have obliged him by looking sinister and ridiculous on camera.

Paul D. Wolfowitz shares his icky hair-care secrets (a black plastic comb and a great deal of saliva); John Ashcroft raptly croons a patriotic ballad of his own composition; Mr. Bush, when he is not blundering through the thickets of his native tongue, projects an air of shallow self-confidence.

Through it all, Mr. Moore provides sardonic commentary, to which the soundtrack adds nudges and winks. As the camera pans across copies of Mr. Bush's records from the Texas Air National Guard, and Mr. Moore reads that the future president was suspended for missing a medical examination, we hear a familiar electric guitar riff; it takes you a moment to remember that it comes from a song called "Cocaine."

Not that Mr. Moore is kidding around. Perhaps because of the scale and gravity of the subject of "Fahrenheit 9/11," perhaps because his own celebrity has made the man-in-the-street pose harder to sustain, Mr. Moore's trademark pranks and interventions are not as much in evidence as in earlier films. He does commandeer an ice cream truck to drive around Washington, reading the U.S.A. Patriot Act through a loudspeaker (after learning that few of the lawmakers who voted for it had actually read it), and he does stand outside the Capitol trying to persuade members of Congress to enlist their children in the armed forces. (The contortion that one legislator performs to avoid shaking Mr. Moore's hand is an amusing moment of found slapstick.)

Mostly, though, he sifts through the public record, constructing a chronicle of misrule that stretches from the Florida recount to the events of this spring. His case is synthetic rather than comprehensive, and it is not always internally consistent. He dwells on the connections between the Bush family and the Saudi Arabian elite (including the bin Laden family), and while he creates a strong impression of unseemly coziness, his larger point is not altogether clear.

After you leave the theater, some questions are likely to linger about Mr. Moore's views on the war in Afghanistan, about whether he thinks the homeland security program has been too intrusive or not intrusive enough, and about how he thinks the government should have responded to the murderous jihadists who attacked the United States on Sept. 11.

At the same time, though, it may be that the confusions trailing Mr. Moore's narrative are what make "Fahrenheit 9/11" an authentic and indispensable document of its time. The film can be seen as an effort to wrest clarity from shock, anger and dismay, and if parts of it seem rash, overstated or muddled, well, so has the national mood.

If "Fahrenheit 9/11" consisted solely of talking heads and unflattering glimpses of public figures, it would be, depending on your politics, either a rousing call to arms or an irresponsible provocation, but it might not persuade you to re-examine your assumptions. But the movie is much more than "Dude, Where's My Country," carried out by other means. It is worth seeing, debating and thinking about, regardless of your political allegiances.

Mr. Moore's populist instincts have never been sharper, and he is, as ever, at his best when he turns down the showmanship and listens to what people have to say. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is, along with everything else, an extraordinary collage of ordinary American voices: soldiers in the field, an Oregon state trooper patrolling the border, and, above all, citizens of Flint, Mich., Mr. Moore's hometown. The trauma that deindustrialization visited on that city was the subject of "Roger and Me," and that film remains fresh 15 years later, now that the volunteer army has replaced the automobile factory as the vehicle for upward mobility.

The most moving sections of "Fahrenheit 9/11" concern Lila Lipscomb, a cheerful state employee and former welfare recipient who wears a crucifix pendant and an American flag lapel pin. When we first meet her, she is proud of her family's military service — a daughter served in the Persian Gulf war and a son, Michael Pedersen, was a marine in Iraq — and grateful for the opportunities it has offered. Then Michael is killed in Karbala, and in sharing her grief with Mr. Moore, she also gives his film an eloquence that its most determined critics will find hard to dismiss. Mr. Bush is under no obligation to answer Mr. Moore's charges, but he will have to answer to Mrs. Lipscomb.



http://movies2.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/movies/23FAHR.html



EDIT:


http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/06/23/arts/23FAHR.390.jpg
In a scene from "Fahrenheit 9/11," President Bush yells at the filmmaker Michael Moore, who is off camera, to "go find real work."

[ArmedPacifist]

I have more respect for someone making $7 an hour at wal-mart than this fat-communist-traitor slob making millions.

Oh so true. :D

Are you two the same person now?

[rokus2595]

No moviegoer will be bored ...'

US critics find Michael Moore's anti-Bush missive entertaining and persuasive, even must-see cinema. Just don't call it a 'documentary'




"No moviegoer will be bored. The documentary's scathing attack on the war in Iraq and George W Bush's presidency is informative, provocative, frightening, compelling, funny, manipulative and, most of all, entertaining."



"While Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 will be properly debated on the basis of its factual claims and cinematic techniques, it should first of all be appreciated as a high-spirited and unruly exercise in democratic self-expression."



"Fahrenheit 9/11 is at its best when it provides talking points for the emerging majority of those opposed to the Iraq incursion. In sum, it's an appalling, enthralling primer of what Moore sees as the Bush administration's crimes and misdemeanours."



"Fahrenheit 9/11 is a compelling, persuasive film, at odds with the White House effort to present Bush as a strong leader. He comes across as a shallow, inarticulate man, simplistic in speech and inauthentic in manner."


"Its title notwithstanding, Michael Moore has delivered a film rather less incendiary than might be expected - or wished for by his fans - in Fahrenheit 9/11. The sporadically effective docu trades far more in emotional appeals than in systematically building an evidence-filled case against the president and his circle."



"Fahrenheit 9/11 comes to many of the same conclusions as the recent 9/11 panel. The film will play to the choir and may influence voters, especially younger ones, who are straddling the fence ... If you want to be part of the debate, Fahrenheit 9/11 is must-see cinema."



"What's remarkable here isn't Moore's political animosity or ticklish wit. It's the well-argued, heartfelt power of his persuasion. Even though there are many things here that we have already learned, Moore puts it all together. It's a look back that feels like a new gaze forward."



"Moore's supporters are quick to impugn the liberal credentials of anyone who criticizes his presentation of the information he digs up (or, in some cases, makes up). For them, Michael Moore is the issues he talks about, so his detractors must be enemies of democratic principles. It's an old trick, akin to the way Pauline Kael was accused of being insensitive about the Holocaust when she didn't like Shoah."



"Although overlong and hampered by a rambling argument, the movie does make a compelling narrative. It also succeeds as entertainment ... If Moore is formidable, it's not because he is a great film-maker (far from it) but because he infuses his sense of ridicule with the fury of moral indignation."



"One last thought: Fahrenheit 9/11 is many things, but for pity's sake let's not call it a documentary."



http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1246356,00.html

[Black Dots]

In a scene from "Fahrenheit 9/11," President Bush yells at the filmmaker Michael Moore, who is off camera, to "go find real work."


I originally saw this bit on Moore's TV show "The Awful Truth." After Bush said that to him, Moore went to a payphone, called his father and asked him if he could give him an oil company or baseball team to run. It was pretty funny.

[ArmedPacifist]

Just saw it, audience gave it a lengthy applause.

Although most of it is BS and clever editing, it was a very powerful film and I loved every second of it.

He nakes a lot of good points, even though it may be a conspiracy theory, it got me thinking.....isn't that what a good film is suppose to do? Stimulate the mind?

[KML]

why are we in Iraq again?

No WMDs
No conection with OBL
They don't like us (the majority hates a "Christian Occupation"


Why not help the Sudaneese Christians who have been being massacred by Muslims? Or fight Pakistan, Libya, Algeria, Somalia, etc.?

[usa320]

Your a dumb****.

-about dozen rounds of Sarin have been found in Iraq. More than a dozen mustard rounds have been found as well. Thats just the tip of the Iceberg. In the time spent ****ing around at the UN, the majority of Saddam's WMD were shipped through the Iraqi desert to Syria.

-Saddam Hussein KNOWINGLY allowed Abu Moussad Zarquawi, a Leutenant of Osama Bin Ladens terrorist network to operate from baghdad after he fled Afghanistan in 2002. Saddam Also allowed Ansar-Al-Islam, cooperating with Zarquawi, to create large amounts of Sarin, Ricin and Anthrax in a massive terrorst camp in Northern Iraq. New intelligence says that Letters were exchanged between Osama Bin Laden's network and Uday Hussein's intelligence service on several occasions, and that while Iraq probably did not play a direct role in 9-11, there was without any reasonable doubt, quoted from the letter "a relationship" between Saddam Hussein's regime and Al Qaeda. Saddam Hussein also paid large sums of money to groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

-The coalition, and particularly the interim government have growing support in Iraq. 73% of Iraqis support prime minister Allawi. Zarquawi is a walking deadman, and Al-Sadr appears to have had a change of heart of the better. Despite what your dumbass thinks, things are getting better everyday.

[Fargin]

:roll:

[KML]

Go **** yourself you ignorant ****!

[usa320]

you dont like it when people show valid points to knock down your endless ramblings do you...

[KML]

Ya, sorry I kind of over reacted.

But i'm entitled to my opinion, and my opion is that there was a list of countries that ranked higher on Terror than Iraq. Like Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, etc.



And have a wonderful weekend! ;)

[usa320]

and those countries will be dealt with in due time...

[scott]

just saw it
entertaining movie, worth the 10 CAD

[Secret Squirrel]

Your a f***.

-about dozen rounds of Sarin have been found in Iraq. More than a dozen mustard rounds have been found as well. Thats just the tip of the Iceberg. In the time spent ****ing around at the UN, the majority of Saddam's WMD were shipped through the Iraqi desert to Syria.


All your supposed shells, though i'm not certain about the number, have been dated before the first war. Got any proof to back up that Saddam shipped his WMDs through Syria? Because the argument is ever evolving; Saddam has them, Saddam hide them, we cant find them so he must have shipped them out. You can make these baseless statements all you want but they pretty much mean nothing.

[usa320]

Saddam has them, Saddam hide them, we cant find them so he must have shipped them out. You can make these baseless statements all you want but they pretty much mean nothing.

All of the above. Saddam Had them. It doesnt matter if he had them in 1995 or in 2002. He had them and he lied about having them to the world. Saddam hid them. And saddam shipped them out.

[M1A2U2]

I just saw it but im a little confused about how Moore says how stupid Bush is yet he seems to think Bush can make a giant conspiracy about being in bed with the bin ladens and the saudis and waging war on iraq just to make money and not let anyone find out? seems like a pretty smart guy if u ask me.

[GrimmyRX]

I just saw it but im a little confused about how Moore says how stupid Bush is yet he seems to think Bush can make a giant conspiracy about being in bed with the bin ladens and the saudis and waging war on iraq just to make money and not let anyone find out? seems like a pretty smart guy if u ask me.

*Shrug* or a guy with smart advisers, lol.

[Secret Squirrel]

I just saw it but im a little confused about how Moore says how stupid Bush is yet he seems to think Bush can make a giant conspiracy about being in bed with the bin ladens and the saudis and waging war on iraq just to make money and not let anyone find out? seems like a pretty smart guy if u ask me.

*Shrug* or a guy with smart advisers, lol.

Bush is pretty buddy buddy with Blair, maybe Blair loaned him some spin doctors. Hopefully not the one that told Blair if he had any dirty laundry to air, he should do it now because the queen mum just died and no one will pay him any attention.

[Black Dots]

about dozen rounds of Sarin have been found in Iraq. More than a dozen mustard rounds have been found as well. Thats just the tip of the Iceberg. In the time spent ****ing around at the UN, the majority of Saddam's WMD were shipped through the Iraqi desert to Syria.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=341153&highlight=#341153


Saddam Hussein KNOWINGLY allowed Abu Moussad Zarquawi, a Leutenant of Osama Bin Ladens terrorist network to operate from baghdad after he fled Afghanistan in 2002. Saddam Also allowed Ansar-Al-Islam, cooperating with Zarquawi, to create large amounts of Sarin, Ricin and Anthrax in a massive terrorst camp in Northern Iraq. New intelligence says that Letters were exchanged between Osama Bin Laden's network and Uday Hussein's intelligence service on several occasions, and that while Iraq probably did not play a direct role in 9-11, there was without any reasonable doubt, quoted from the letter "a relationship" between Saddam Hussein's regime and Al Qaeda. Saddam Hussein also paid large sums of money to groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.


That massive terrorist camp was later visited by the CIA and they determined that not only was their no chemical plant there, but there was no infrastructure that could support the needs of such a plant. Furthermore, if we knew where that plant was before the war and was positive it existed, why not just bomb the hell out of it? It was supposedly in the middle of no where in the northern no-fly zone.

Furthermore:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=339769&highlight=#339769


The coalition, and particularly the interim government have growing support in Iraq. 73% of Iraqis support prime minister Allawi. Zarquawi is a walking deadman, and Al-Sadr appears to have had a change of heart of the better. Despite what your dumbass thinks, things are getting better everyday.

We'll see what happens after the 30th.

[OB Kenobi]

"Fahrenheit 9/11" Breaks NYC Records!

LOS ANGELES (*******) - Director Michael Moore's controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" turned on the box office heat in its first day in theaters breaking single-day records at the two New York City theaters where it played. The movie, which aims a critical eye at President Bush and his prosecution of the war in Iraq, sold $49,000 worth of tickets at the Loew's Village 7 theater, beating the venue's single-day record of $43,435 held by 1997's "Men in Black," according to distributors Lions Gate Films and IFC Films.

At the Lincoln Plaza theater, "Fahrenheit 9/11" took in more than $30,000 to top the $24,013 set by "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2000.

A spokesman for Lions Gate Films said the company debuted the movie in the two theaters to help build good word-of-mouth -- friend telling friend -- publicity ahead of the wide debut on Friday when it plays in 868 theaters in all 50 states.

The film has caused a storm of controversy because director Moore, whose past work includes Oscar-winning documentary "Bowling for Columbine," makes a case that the Bush administration was determined to invade Iraq following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The movie links Bush family members and business associates with wealthy Saudi Arabian families, including that of Osama bin Laden, and Moore clearly wants to see the president fail to win reelection in this fall's presidential campaign.

Groups have organized support for and against the movie, and audiences appear to be keen to see it.

Online ticket service Fandango.com on Wednesday reported that "Fahrenheit 9/11" was making up 48 percent of advance ticket sales for the weekend ahead, compared to 11 percent for "Dodgeball" and 9 percent for next week's "Spider-Man 2."