I was eager to see this documentary, especially since I've liked other of Robert Greenwald's films, and I was terribly disappointed with its poor quality and one-sidedness. This movie can hardly be called a documentary, because it's so blatantly biased. I do not like Wal-Mart and haven't shopped there for years, but I believe its story can be told without resorting to such obvious manipulation. I agree that Wal-Mart has hurt many of the communities where its superstores have been built, and most of the film's segments reflect this. Although some of these segments were truly eye-opening, many of its points merely repeated the same assertions in what felt like a heavy-handed way. Also, the film draws a number of spurious conclusions. For example, would the money spent to subsidize new Wal-Mart stores in some communities have been earmarked for education in the absence of Wal-Mart? The film presents no real evidence that it would. Along with its polemical content, muddy sound quality during some segments and poor organization overall added to my opinion that this is one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen.
Frontline offers a much better Wal-Mart documentary, "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?" which presents the issues in a much better organized, less manipulative way.
Frontline offers a much better Wal-Mart documentary, "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?" which presents the issues in a much better organized, less manipulative way.