A pretty sick doc

Say what you will about Michael Moore's opinions on gun control, the Middle East and the politics of fear. All his past films have been noble exercises in the exposure of societal and political ills, but they have also all been terminally assailable by the far right. "SiCKO," while still royally pissing off insufferable shitheads such as Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, is much, much harder to criticize, unless you're in the pocket of Aetna or still buy into the wide-eyed Reagan-era concept of socialist countries as "evil empires."\nThe stories contained in "SiCKO" are saddening and maddening in equal measure, and they shine a terribly damning light on health insurance and drug companies in America as profit-driven machines less concerned about saving lives than saving money. The only thing lacking in Moore's film is a deeper explanation of how tax dollars fund medical care in places such as France, England, Canada and Cuba. This should be assumed, yes, but sometimes you have to spell it out for people.\nThere is enough material for another movie packed into the features portion of this single-disc edition. Watching Congressman John Conyers' universal health care bill proposal and its subsequent falling on deaf ears is both inspiring and heartbreaking, and a brief but telling look into the daily life of Norwegians is the most effective case for expatriation I've seen in quite some time. Extended interviews with former British Parliamentarian Tony Benn, Che Guevara's daughter and several of the other people in the film are enlightening, and the featurette "Who Would Jesus Deny?" will stop you in your tracks.\nThe back of the DVD case features a quote of praise that I find inappropriate about the film, calling it "Michael Moore's funniest movie to date." I didn't leave the theater in stitches, and I surely wasn't glowing with joyousness after rewatching this at home. Yes, Moore infuses the pain with humor. It makes a bitter pill easier to swallow. But the woozy after-effects of "SiCKO," what it makes you consider and what it brings to light, will stick with you in the worst way.