Press views: Michael Moore's Sicko

Documentary-maker Michael Moore's new film Sicko has become one of the most talked-about productions at the Cannes Film Festival.

Here is a round-up of what the early reviews say.

VARIETY Alissa Simon

Michael Moore tackles the US private healthcare industry in Sicko

[It is] an entertaining and affecting dissection of the American healthcare industry that documents how it benefits the few at the expense of the many.

Its tone alternates between comedy and outrage, as it compares the US system of care to other countries.

Employing his trademark personal narration and David vs Goliath approach, Moore enlivens what is, in essence, a depressing subject by wrapping it in irony and injecting levity wherever possible.

Full Variety review

SCREEN DAILY Lee Marshall

Michael Moore's passionate, bullying, gag-laced approach to the "j'accuse" documentary worked a treat in Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 - and it works even better in Sicko.

Moore doesn't change his methods - he still plays to the gallery, and fingered corporate or government culprits are still given little or no right to reply. This time round, Moore simply chooses an easier target.

It may not be subtle, but it makes for great, heart-on-sleeve cinema.

Full Screen Daily review

FOX NEWS Roger Friedman

Film-maker Michael Moore's brilliant and uplifting new documentary deals with the failings of the US healthcare system, both real and perceived.

But this time around, the controversial documentarian seems to be letting the subject matter do the talking, and in the process shows a new maturity.

Unlike many of his previous films, Sicko works because in this one there are no confrontations.

Full Fox News review

EMPIRE Damon Wise

Michael Moore's new documentary Sicko unspooled to a VERY warm reception.

Kicking off with the obligatory swipe at Bush, Sicko is a more mellow film than we're used to seeing from the less-lardy-than-usual firebrand.

Perhaps a little too obvious targeted at a domestic audience (Moore says "we" a lot when he means "we Americans"), it offers his take on the American healthcare system and how lives and limbs are being lost in pursuit of profit.

Full Empire review

TIME MAGAZINE Jeffrey Kluger

The movie is double-barreled Moore, a mix of familiar numbers (47 million uninsured Americans, the ever rising cost of care) and chilling moments (the 18-month-old baby who dies of a seizure when she's denied emergency-room access, the husband and father with kidney cancer whose insurer won't pay for a bone-marrow transplant).

Together, they will have many moviegoers angry enough to gouge holes in their armrests.

Full Time review

CINEMATICAL James Rocchi

Is he a journalist or an entertainer? A fact-finding seeker of truth or a deadpan comedian of the socially absurd? Are his arguments constructed to make a point or get a laugh?

I don't think I'm the only person who watches Moore's films and wishes they had more clarity and less hilarity.

It's that tone - of selfless self-celebration, of public altruism, of snide sensitivity - that undercuts a lot of Moore's work, and it undermines Sicko.

Full Cinematical review