Where to Invade Next

"Michael Moore’s detractors are likely to find his new McDocumentary Where to Invade Next of a piece with his other works: broad, simplistic, entertaining to a fault, with his schlubby gee-whizzing persona very much present throughout. But it also arguably marks Moore’s warmest, most endearing and hopeful outing as a Crusader of Compassion yet. “I've turned into this kind of crazy optimist,” Moore says at a late point during his journey, which sees the filmmaker employing a too-cute-by-half gimmick: “invading” various European countries (with a brief, almost token-not-white stopover in Tunisia) and stealing their progressive policies and reforms in the goal of alleviating America’s myriad social, political and economic troubles."

"This impassioned and unruly provocateur returns to further dismantle the myth of American supremacy with renewed optimism and sharpened comic instincts."

"One of [Moore's] more hopeful and celebratory efforts."

"It’s jocular, never feels like a screed, and it’s refreshingly outward-looking."

"Watching it made me feel like a deprived child with my nose pressed against the glass of a magical toy store in a faraway land. On one side is a happy, harmonious land of productive people. On the other is a world of misery, anxiety, war and greed."

"As America crawls towards a new administration - another chance to sell hope as a cure-all - we need voices like Moore's to remind us that change takes work."

"If just half the facts presented here are correct -- and that's probably too conservative -- it does pose questions about the way America is heading. And Australia, too."

"The clowning can be tiresome, yet there's finally something touching about seeing Moore stumble through phrases in Slovakian or marvel over the academic proficiency of Finnish teens."

"In a brisk two hours, Moore takes us on a whistle-stop tour of policies around the world that appear to work a lot better than what America (and, increasingly, New Zealand) is doing."

"Beyond the thicket of sentiment, cherry-picking, and statistic-mongering, much of the information Moore presents is engrossing and even worthwhile."

"Funny and always on-topic without going overboard, it's an engaging film that could broaden Moore's fan base."