POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Genre:
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Stars: Peter Berg, Paul Brennan
Rating: ***
No corporations were harmed in the making of Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary provocation, although a few may have been a trifle embarrassed.
Many were plainly delighted, especially POM Wonderful, the juice company that paid $1 million to have its name in the film’s title.
For the boss-baiting Spurlock to suddenly polka with pooh-bahs may seem strange. Has the Super Size Me guy lost the will to annoy capitalists?
The answer is maybe, but the good news is that it hardly matters, if you accept the film as entertainment rather than crusading journalism.
Spurlock is simultaneously selling out and pointing out, by putting his integrity on sale for what he believes is the greater good. He wants cultural consumers to know that their eyeballs are for sale.
After convincing us of advertising’s ubiquity with an opening montage, he sets out to get some for himself, and with a zeal that would make a street-corner pimp blush. Few could pull off this fan dance as well as Spurlock, who manages to be both the laughing and crying clowns at the same time.
