Sicko (2007)

A documentary comparing the highly profitable American health care industry to other nations, and HMO horror stories including shotgun deaths.

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer:

Michael Moore

Stars:

Michael Moore, Tucker Albrizzi, Tony Benn

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Michael Moore	...	Self
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tucker Albrizzi	...	Self
Tony Benn	...	Self
George W. Bush	...	Self (archive footage)
Reggie Cervantes	...	Self
Bill Clinton	...	Self (archive footage)
Hillary Clinton	...	Self (archive footage) (as Hillary Rodham Clinton)
Billy Crystal	...	Self (archive footage)
John Graham	...	Self
Aleida Guevara	...	Self
William Maher	...	Self
Richard Nixon	...	Self (archive footage)
Patrick Pedraja	...	Self
Linda Peeno	...	Self

Storyline

Documentary look at health care in the United States as provided by profit-oriented health maintenance organizations (HMOs) compared to free, universal care in Canada, the U.K., and France. Moore contrasts U.S. media reports on Canadian care with the experiences of Canadians in hospitals and clinics there. He interviews patients and doctors in the U.K. about cost, quality, and salaries. He examines why Nixon promoted HMOs in 1971, and why the Clintons' reform effort failed in the 1990s. He talks to U.S. ex-pats in Paris about French services, and he takes three 9/11 clean-up volunteers, who developed respiratory problems, to Cuba for care. He asks of Americans, "Who are we?"

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Plot Keywords:

man wears eyeglasses | the weinstein company | lionsgate | health care | france | 

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Taglines:

What seems to be the problem?

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Did You Know?

Trivia

On certain DVD versions of the film, the scene where the man is having his leg amputated was removed, and replaced with stock footage of dancers, although you can still hear the sound of the saw, and the man answering questions.

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Goofs

The Italian version consistently mistranslates "bone marrow" as "spinal cord" (in Italian the two terms are more similar).

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Quotes

[first lines]
George W. Bush: We got issue in America. Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their... their love with women all across the country.

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Crazy Credits

"Americans interested in marrying Canadians for healthcare go to www.hook-a-canuck.com" (the actual website does not use the hyphens).

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Connections

Spun-off from TV Nation: Product Placement Night (1994)

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Soundtracks

The Bad Beginning
from A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Written by Thomas Newman
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures

User Reviews

It's worst than Romania!

I've seen a lot of movies that either make fun or try to exemplify American stupidity, but none convinced me of it unless I've seen Sicko. How can you people put up with this?! The medical system portrayed in this film is worst than here in Romania!

Basically, it tells about the medical system being bought and used by insurance companies to trick people into paying huge sums of money for any medical care, regardless of them having a medical insurance or not. Then there are examples of the Canadian, French, British and Cuban health care systems, which are, as I think they should be, free and of high quality.

And the logic is very simple, even if one chooses to disregard the highly emotional examples presented by Moore: people who win money from not taking care of you will not take care of you.

Take care!

Details

Official Sites:

Michael Moore Official Website Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish Russian

Release Date:

3 July 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

SiCKO

Filming Locations:

Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$68,969, 24 June 2007

Gross USA:

$24,540,079

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$36,163,768

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dog Eat Dog Films, The Weinstein Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1