Roger & Me (1989)

Director Michael Moore pursues GM CEO Roger Smith to confront him about the harm he did to Flint, Michigan with his massive downsizing.

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer:

Michael Moore

Stars:

Michael Moore, James Blanchard, James Bond

11 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Michael Moore	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Blanchard	...	Himself
James Bond	...	Himself
Pat Boone	...	Himself
Rhonda Britton	...	Herself ('Pets or Meat')
Anita Bryant	...	Herself
Karen Edgely	...	Herself
Bob Eubanks	...	Himself
Ben Hamper	...	Himself
Dinona Jackson	...	Herself
Timothy Jackson	...	Himself
Tom Kay	...	Himself
Ted Koppel	...	Himself (archive footage)
Correy Lennox	...	High School Student
Brian MacDonald	...	Video Tour Guide

Storyline

A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.

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Plot Keywords:

flint michigan | michigan | michael moore | general motors | quest | 

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Taglines:

The story of a rebel and his mike.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Bis Repetita [fr] Dog Eat Dog Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 December 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Humorous Look at How General Motors Destroyed Flint, Michigan

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$160,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$18,866 (USA) (19 October 2012)

Gross:

$511,200 (USA) (28 December 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dog Eat Dog Films, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This documentary exposes the reality of corporate downsizing and outsourcing - General Motors opening facilities in Mexico and shuttering their facilities in Flint, Michigan has became a trend during the mid-1980s where the Rust Belt employment sector has declined - the use of automation where Detroit's Big Three implemented the use of industrial robots resulted in the decline of the blue collar factory worker. When GM initiated this, they were consolidating their vehicle lines by sharing bodyshells which became known as platform sharing in the automobile industry. The Flint, Michigan assembly plants that GM shuttered - the corporate downsizing and outsourcing trend has influenced GM's rival Ford Motor Company with The Way Forward during the mid-2000s (Ford shuttered its Wixom, Michigan assembly plant and in late 2011, its St. Thomas plant in Canada). At the same time the film was in development, consumerism towards Asian automakers e.g. Toyota, Honda, and Nissan also resulted in the decline of motor vehicles produced by union labor where only one Asian automaker (Honda) had a manufacturing facility in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio - the other two Asian automakers Toyota and Nissan chose to build their assembly plants (known as transplants) in non-labor union states e.g. Tennessee, Texas, and California to produce mass-market vehicles as a result of the 1981 Voluntary Export Restraints imposed by the U.S. Government. The Asian (Japanese) Big Three, Nissan, Toyota, and Honda, in response to the VER, launched their respective luxury brands - Infiniti, Lexus, and Acura.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Michael Moore: Well I failed to bring Roger to Flint. As we neared the end of the twentieth century, the rich were richer, the poor, poorer. And people everywhere now had a lot less lint, thanks to the lint rollers made in my hometown. It was truly the dawn of a new era.

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Crazy Credits

This film cannot be shown within the city of Flint. All the movie theatres have closed.

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Connections

Referenced in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Wouldn't it be Nice"
Written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher
Performed by The Beach Boys
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc.
By Arrangement with CEMA Special Markets

User Reviews

Great film, despite some of Moore's liberties

Easily the funniest documentary of all time, this film takes a hard look at the common working man. So many elements in this film are excellent, and one gets to see the tough life these factory workers experience. From the cross action between Roger Smith and the workers getting evicted is one of the most surreal moments in a film full of them. While Michael Moore fiddled with the timeline egregiously, the tongue-in-cheek attitude most of the people exhibit is shocking. A movie for anyone who feels frustrated with the daily rat race.