Michael Moore's new film "Sicko" opened to an enthusiastic audience today at the Cannes Film Festival. As reviewed by Andrew O'Hehir for Salon
There wasn't a single empty seat inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière -- which holds more than 2,000 people -- for "Sicko," and dozens of stragglers were locked out on the sidewalk. Moore's screed against the outrageous state of American healthcare was received with uproarious affection, but one might argue that Cannes provided the softest possible crowd. An American left-wing populist, attacking America's profit-motive, private-sector ideology before a roomful of international intellectuals, at least half of them Europeans. May I introduce a new phrase into the Franglais dictionary? C'était un slam-dunk.
One part of the film that has already gotten some critical comment from the US Treasury department involves a trip that Moore took to Cuba to seek health care for a number of people (and their families) who developed breathing problems after working around ground zero in New York after 9/11.
According to this AP article from June 10th
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control notified Moore in a letter dated May 2 that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the U.S. trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. A copy of the letter was obtained Wednesday by the AP.
"This office has no record that a specific license was issued authorizing you to engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba," Dale Thompson, OFAC chief of general investigations and field operations, wrote in the letter to Moore.
In March, Moore took about 10 ailing workers from the Ground Zero rescue effort in Manhattan for treatment in Cuba, said a person working with the filmmaker on the release of "Sicko." The person requested anonymity because Moore's attorneys had not yet determined how to respond.
According to O'Hehir, Michael Moore told a wall-to-wall throng of reporters here after the Saturday morning press premiere
"I know the storm awaits me back in the United States," . . . Then he heaved a deep breath and added, "But this is just so pleasant."
It looks like Moore will find himself tossed into a briar patch of publicity back at home just in time for the distribution of his film here.