"America's Heart and Soul" ripped to shreds.

[Kid_A]

Review from The Onion AV Club. They also gave F9/11 a fairly lukewarm review, in case you were wondering which side of the fence they're on.



A blind mountain climber who scales Everest. A cerebral-palsy sufferer who coasts through his 18th Boston Marathon with his father behind the wheelchair. A bar-band frontman who wants his struggling group to rock like Pantera, only they're "not that tough." These are just some of the inspirational figures featured in America's Heart And Soul, a star-spangled plea for the hearts and minds of Disney shareholders. For those who don't follow the trades, Louis Schwartzberg's steaming pile of Americana will seem especially curious, since its commercial-slick vignettes aren't tethered to any theme, other than a few Successories slogans on freedom and "keeping the passion alive." If nothing else, the film will endure as a hilarious camp artifact of the Bush & Benetton Age, when political correctness and reactionary patriotism once clasped hands in the Mickey Mouse Parade.

Posed as counter-programming to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which was developed and forcibly sold off by Disney subsidiary Miramax, America's Heart And Soul represents apple-pie mythmaking at its most insidiously thoughtless. Rarely has the country been more polarized and politically charged, yet Schwartzberg and his studio masters pretend like everything's A-OK, as if helicopter shots of purple mountains' majesty and amber waves of grain will somehow erase the shame of Abu Ghraib. With flop-sweat on its brow, the film works hard to sell the cornpone idea of America back to itself, but are there really any buyers for this lemon?

Arbitrary in number and sequence, the two dozen or so mini-profiles zigzag frenetically from gorgeous landscapes to diverse urban centers, weaving what amounts to a crazy-quilt tapestry. (And, if there's any doubt, Schwartzberg shoots an Appalachian woman literally weaving a tapestry!) A few of the subjects would be interesting if more than five minutes were devoted to them: They include a Vermont dairy farmer who stages a musical version of Dracula, a daredevil New York City bike messenger, and a Methodist minister with a broadly inclusive congregation. Other profilees seem chosen for geographical convenience alone, so Schwartzberg can catch magic-hour views of Monument Valley, Telluride, and Napa Valley.

Peppered with John Mellencamp songs and the umpteenth montage set to Smash Mouth's "All Star," America's Heart And Soul celebrates each of its red, white, and blue clichés with aerial views, time-lapse photography, or generous swells of music. Technically, the film is a documentary, but it's closer to an advertisement or a state-funded propaganda film, calibrated to appeal to emotional, unreflective instincts through shimmering hogwash. If this is a real cross-section of America, then where are the needy, the disenfranchised, and the assholes? —Scott Tobias

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. F- - K Disney!!!

:argh:

[Cocoa]

2. two dozen vignettes?

how long is this movie, or conversely, how superficial are these stories?

[papau]

5. 88 minutes-3 minutes plus per story-showing on a hundred AMCscreens in 22

small towns that are occasionally close to a large city.

Opens July 2nd.

It is a feel good movie and not a waste of time - but this is the RW response to F911 - get real

If it breaks 2 million over the 4th of July opening I will be surprised.

[redqueen]

6. This in the excerpt above infers they're pretty superficial:

"A few of the subjects would be interesting if more than five minutes were devoted to them"

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

3. I don't need to see a movie to know what is good about America...

.. I see that every day in my family, my friends, my co-workers, and the people I pass on the street who smile and say "Hello".

And guess what?

Some are Democrat, some are Republican, some don't like Bush and some do.

What makes me SAD for America is the ilk who try to put blinders on me to see things ONLY ONE way and ignore what is happening around me.

THAT is what we need to remove from America's Heart & Soul.

[donco6]

4. Steaming pile of Americana . . . !

Snort. That pretty much sums it up.

[tom_paine]

7. Well, the assholes are now the Fuhrers and Sturmtruppen of Amerika

The disenfranchised and needy? Where did they go in Nazi Germany? How about the Soviet Union?

No, they aren't there yet, but they will be.

Just wait until Caligula and Nero Bush.

[qb]

8. Sigh... Another Disney bomb. When will Eisner get the boot?

[Hoping4Change]

9. To connect with all that's good about America I log on to DU!

Screw Disney. I don't need propaganda spewing from that oily orifice to know what is great about America. I know what makes America great and its found here at DU. :toast:

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

10. Goosestepping for Jesus and Amerika...Mickey and Repukes hand-in-hand

Morans.

JB

[Cat Atomic]

11. If Disney had any respect for America, they would've released F911.

Sounds like this movie is Triumph of the Will for a whole new generation of willfully ignorant nationalists.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Hey Now

About the only thing that fucking Smash Mouth Song hasn't been used for is a Depends commercial. Enough, already. Jesus.

[hatrack]

13. "Shimmering Hogwash" - God, I wish I'd said that!!

"You will, James, you will!"

"Right, Your Majesty is like a stream of bat's piss!"

[booksenkatz]

15. One of my fav MP references!

Ooooooh, that's a good one. Thanks for that.
:thumbsup:

[ewagner]

14. I think there's a bigger difference

I haven't seen F911 yet but I've read LOTS of posts and seen some of the clips/trailers. Because of that, I think I understand that MM didn't win first prize at Cannes because it's a propaganda film, he won it for the cinematic genious with which it was put together.

n the other hand, America's Heart and Soul appears as a cinematic cliche'.

Republicans/conservatives have always been ham-fisted with patriotic themes......

[LeftWingArmy]

16. Can't wait for this to come crashing down

AWESOME!