Roger & Me (1989)

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer:

Michael Moore (written by)

Release Date:

20 December 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy | Drama | History

Tagline:

The story of a rebel and his mike.

Plot:

Director Michael Moore pursues GM CEO Roger Smith to confront him about the harm he did to Flint, Michigan with his massive downsizing.

Plot Keywords:

Michigan | Michael Moore | Flint Michigan | Downsizing | Plant

Awards:

11 wins

Cast

Michael Moore	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Blanchard	...	Himself
James Bond	...	Himself
Pat Boone	...	Himself
Rhonda Britton	...	Herself ('Pets or Meat')
Anita Bryant	...	Herself
Karen Edgely	...	Herself
Bob Eubanks	...	Himself
Ben Hamper	...	Himself
Dinona Jackson	...	Herself
Timothy Jackson	...	Himself
Tom Kay	...	Himself
Ted Koppel	...	Himself (archive footage)
Correy Lennox	...	High School Student
Brian MacDonald	...	Video Tour Guide
Kaye Lani Rae Rafko	...	Herself (Miss America)
Dan Rather	...	Himself (archive footage)
Janet K. Rauch	...	Herself - Amway Lady
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Fred Ross	...	Himself (eviction deputy)
Barbara Schroeder	...	Herself - Reporter
Robert Schuller	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Sells	...	Himself (local TV news anchor)
Roger B. Smith	...	Himself
Guy Williams	...	Zorro (archive footage)
Steve Wilson	...	Himself
Sue Zelenko	...	Herself
Richard Earl Sawdon	...	Spot welder (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Moore

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Moore		written by

Produced by
Michael Moore	....	producer
Wendey Stanzler	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Chris Beaver
John Prusak
Kevin Rafferty
Bruce Schermer

Film Editing by
Jennifer Beman
Wendey Stanzler

Sound Department
Jennifer Beman	....	sound editor
Judy Irving	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Daniel S. Noga	....	additional cinematographer

Editorial Department
Adam D. Fleischman	....	assistant editor

Music Department
David Hess	....	composer: song "Speedy Gonzales"
Ethel Lee	....	composer: song "Speedy Gonzales"

Other crew
Edward Asner	....	additional funding (as Ed Asner)
Frank Moore	....	additional funding
Veronica Moore	....	additional funding
John Pierson	....	producer's representative
Keith Prusak	....	production assistant
Scott Rouse	....	production assistant
Josef Steiff	....	production assistant

Thanks
Frank Moore	....	special thanks
Veronica Moore	....	special thanks
Ralph Nader	....	special thanks
Barbara Schroeder	....	special thanks (as Barb Schroeder)
Roger B. Smith	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Dog Eat Dog Films
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1989) (USA) (theatrical)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1992) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Bros. (1990) (UK)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• General Motors  archival sources
• Wide World Photos  archival sources

Also Known As:

A Humorous Look at How General Motors Destroyed Flint, Michigan (USA) (subtitle)
Dance Band on the Titanic: Autoworld and the Death of Flint (USA) (working title)
Roger and Me (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A | Finland:S | Norway:11 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company:

Dog Eat Dog Films

Trivia:

By 1989, all movie theaters had closed in the city limits of Flint. The premiere was held at Showcase Cinemas, 5205 East Court Street, Burton, MI a small town next to Flint.

Quotes:

Michael Moore: Mr. Smith, we just came down from Flint, where we filmed a family being evicted from their home the day before Christmas Eve. A family that used to work in the factory. Would you be willing to come up with us to see what the situation is like in Flint, so that people...?
Roger Smith: I've been to Flint, and I'm sorry for those people, but I don't know anything about it, but you'd have to...
Michael Moore: Families being evicted from their homes on Christmas Eve...
Roger Smith: Well, I'm - listen, I'm sure General Motors didn't evict them. So, you'd have to go talk to the landlord.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

The Way It Is

Some people just don't like to celebrate human tragedy while on vacation

Flint is small town that was for many years a extension to General Motors factory. One morning boss of Genergal Motor – Roger Smith woke up and discover the fact that closing the factory and fire of 30,000 people can make better business than carry on with production, despite the fact that factory didn't bring any losses.

"Roger and Me" is document where Michael Moore report the slow but systematic fall of his hometown because of Roger Smith decision. Moore just want one thing – bring Roger Smith to the town, so he can see with his own eyes the fallout. I wont spoiler, let me just say the one of last scene of this movie is very eerie and surreal.

This is very interesting document, when every reported thing is scary, curious and funny. My favorite moment is interview with women breeding rabbits (for pets, and for meat), but all of this encounters with Flint's peasants are at least informative. Yeah, it's a manipulation by Moore like always (I hate his Fahrenheit because of that), but here he selected and arranged the moment in very powerful way. The situation is real, and the horror of it its more then real, when we see this hopeless, not very bright people who where just because of one man decision put on the highway to hell.

And of course this movie is all about Moore. He is everywhere, non stop commenting, but the god-crusader from last scene of "Bowling for columbine" (Heston) is no where near here, and that's a good thing. This movie is just a well aimed shot, a punk-rock scream for a social injustice. This is art for document with power to stir up emotion and show people ugly things just the way they are: evictions, parades, idiotic city decision – ignorance, foolishness, powerlessness – its all powerful evil, and the last scene with very sad Christmas Carol its surreal.