'Fahrenheit' gets city talking 'Fahrenheit' gets city talking (July 09, 2004)

Seats scarce for Michael Moore's film about 9/11, Bush

By Julie O'Shea

Michael Krein's eyes well up with tears when asked what he thinks of "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- Michael Moore's scathing review of the Bush administration.

"It shows the lies," Krein said, coming out of the film last week at Century 16 Cinema in Mountain View.

"I cried a lot. It hurts. It just hurts."

Standing next to her colleague, Linda Worsley, who has already seen the movie twice, added with a dry laugh: "I think it is very consistent to what I see on CNN every night -- everyone should see this movie."

"Fahrenheit 9/11" has taken the movie industry by storm, pulling in $23.9 million its opening weekend, a record for a documentary film. (The last documentary to hold this title was Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," which won an Academy Award last year.)

While on opening weekend it was hard to find a seat for a screening of "Fahrenheit 9/11" at the Shoreline Boulevard movie house, one theater manager said things have calmed down since "Spider-Man 2" came into town. Still, Moore's flick is expected to make at least $100 million in U.S. sales alone.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" is an examination of the last four years. Starting with Election 2000, Moore gives the audience a detailed look into the Bush family ties with the Saudi royal family, President Bush's military records and, of course, the months leading up to and following the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In this election year, "Fahrenheit 9/11" seems to have everyone talking -- with supporters seeming to outweigh the shouts of dismay. Both the Raging Grannies and the Mountain View Voices for Peace, local anti-war groups, said they have received a positive response while singing and handing out anti-war leaflets, respectively, outside the local movie theater.

But not everyone has been easily impressed with the Moore extravaganza. Dick Hasenpflug, president of the South Peninsula Area Republican Coalition, hasn't seen the movie and has no intention of spending $10 on a film that doesn't fit with his opinion. He believes Bush is doing a good job and plans to vote for him in November "unless something gets really screwed up."

Moore has a right to his opinion, so long as moviegoers remember that this is just one man's view of American politics, he added.

"I get really concerned when it's called a documentary," Hasenpflug said. "It's an advocacy piece."

Mountain View City Council member Mike Kasperzak, another Silicon Valley Republican, agreed: "Michael Moore is not doing a documentary here because I feel a documentary should be more two-sided."

Nevertheless, "I really want to see it. I love Michael Moore," Kasperzak added. "I may be coming out of the closet here, but I'm not a big supporter of the president right now despite my party affiliation."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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