By Jason Foster, AFL Staff

Quick! Run as fast as you can. The Big One is here.

Yes! Run to your nearest video store. The Big One is now out on video. So invite your friends and co-workers, organize a Big One Party.

What’s the big deal? Well, for those who haven’t heard, The Big One is the latest film from ballcap-toting leftie filmmaker Michael Moore.

Moore is best known for making a pest of himself with General Motors in the film Roger and Me – his attempt to hold the corporation accountable for the destruction of Flint Michigan.

Moore’s purpose in life is to embarrass as many corporate executives as he can – on film. His usual method is to waltz in to a head office unannounced, camera in tow, and present some corporate-type with an award for their corporate welfare skill or downsizing prowess.

And that, in a nutshell, is The Big One. Moore tours the country wreaking political mayhem all under the guise of a promotion tour for his book, Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American.

For example, he visits the factory where they make "Payday" chocolate bars. It is the factory employee’s last day. Despite being highly profitable, the company is shutting the plant down. In a surreal conversation, the plant manager tells Moore that if the workers had been less productive and less profitable, the plant would have remained open.

Corporate logic in action.
The results of Moore’s antics range from mildly humorous to on-the-floor funny. He has a skill at making capitalism the target of joke. Through making us laugh, he allows us to hear a more serious and cunning message about the nature of the modern economy.

But it is not all just making fun of the corporates. In a small midwest city, Moore holds a clandestine meeting with some bookstore workers, all under age 25, desperately trying to organize a union. Their stories of intimidation speak volumes of the state of today’s economy.

The Big One communicates a message the workers can start taking control of our economic lives again. Workers need unions. Unions need to use their ability to strike. We can all demand our right to a job. We can all start using our strength to say to government and business that things must change.

At the movie’s climax, Moore gets a meeting with the CEO of Nike. A painful and captivating conversation occurs between the two men. The CEO defends his third world labour policies by rationalizing that Americans don’t want to make shoes. Moore tries in vain to persuade him that they do. They go back and forth, speaking English but not using the same language.

Moore does not leave us without hope. The movie’s final moments return to the young bookstore employees on the night of the ratification vote. The vote is successful; these men and women now have a union. In their jubilation, they run down the street spreading the news to other young workers in other shops. The final message is one of hope – we can reclaim our economy if we want to.

On, and did I forget to mention. The Big One is a very funny movie.

If you local video store has any sense of justice or sense of taste, they will stock The Big One. And if they don’t – take a lesson from Michael Moore and make them