as i really liked greenwalds first documentary "outfoxed" i had high hopes for this one as well. to put it bluntly - the movie is overedited, overly sentimental and some 20 minutes too long. overedited as in too many cuts and fact-bits suggesting a more dynamic development than there is to expect (lets face it - walmart has been doing this kind of business for quite some time now).. overly sentimental as in too many people crying and a somewhat misleading selection of probably the worst possible experiences with walmart out there. about 20 minutes too long as in mentioning the poor working conditions in large parts of the world, without elaborating enough on it that is a whole different movie and deserves to be told separately...
all things considered the movie contains way too much activism and too little documentary. the subject is most interesting and the movie has its merits also, but in my opinion it should be enough to plainly state the facts and let them speak for themselves. in that department "outfoxed" did a better job by far. still this movie is well worth a watch! it does manage to illustrate some of the issues caused by the business practices of walmart and the ramifications for ordinary people. just keep in mind that the presentation could and probably should be more objective in order to avoid partisan film-making even more so since greenwald would have a solid case even without resorting to such techniques.
all things considered the movie contains way too much activism and too little documentary. the subject is most interesting and the movie has its merits also, but in my opinion it should be enough to plainly state the facts and let them speak for themselves. in that department "outfoxed" did a better job by far. still this movie is well worth a watch! it does manage to illustrate some of the issues caused by the business practices of walmart and the ramifications for ordinary people. just keep in mind that the presentation could and probably should be more objective in order to avoid partisan film-making even more so since greenwald would have a solid case even without resorting to such techniques.