The Greatest Movie Ever Sold: Film Review

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Reviewed by Tim S.

I don’t know, I’ve never responded well to sensationalism; I always seem to find myself on a different wavelength when people tell me something’s “good” and I’ve “got to see/play it”. If I don’t pick it up on my own volition, I usually need convincing in some capacity to put my time/money into it, though most people I talk to don’t grant me the courtesy of qualifying their claims of why something is worth my time. So when I like something, I’ll usually attempt to qualify exactly what makes it worth taking time away from whatever else you’re doing, and why you should give it a go.

I’ll admit it right off the bat, I’ve always had a soft spot for documentary… Notwithstanding the iconic thick British accent overlaid with most of David Attenborough’s nature documentaries, my preference is rather the types of documentaries that make you think about things, like social issues and problems; bigger-picture issues that leave with you with a sensation of “WHAT THE F#$% WERE THEY THINKING?!”. Given my disposition, I was rather obliging in checking out this documentary.

In this case, after our last editorial meeting Remy flipped me a free pass to check out Morgan Spurlock’s latest escapades in The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. I’ve got to say I was certainly impressed with this documentary film; Spurlock creates perhaps one of the most self-reflexive documentary films of recent years as he literally documents the films making of itself, consistently asserting its prerogative of “making a film about product placement and advertising, where the entire film is funded by product placement and advertising”.

Having never seen any of Morgan Spurlock’s films, (even the coveted Supersize Me has managed to elude my focus), I didn’t have sense of his style, his mode of autership. Perhaps this served to my advantage, as this formerly clean slate got it’s first taste of Spurlock’s satirical take on reality, filtered through the words of brand representatives, advertising agencies, members of the public and public officials.

It could be argued that his approach is perhaps the most transparent of filmmaking in film’s history; he shows how through the pressures of advertisers and marketers has effectively removed a degree of creative control over the production process of his own movie. But conversely, the whole point of the movie is to illustrate the impact of commercial product placement in an industry, so in a weird, self-reflexive, fourth-wall sort of way, it actually IS exactly suited to his vision.

The film begs an answer to the question; is product placement a necessary part of modern day filmmaking or does it contribute to a greater evil whose goal is domination of the creative drive of the film industry? Product placement is something we by-and-large accept as a part of modern filmmaking. However, the film explores (among other things) the possibilities that due to increasingly restrictive contractual obligations, filmmakers are increasingly restricted in terms of the range of products they’re allowed to show, and the associated contexts of its representation.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom; with advertisers paying big dollars to have their products displayed in a film, it can help to relieve the pressure on an otherwise tight budget, thus providing more resources to smaller independent film companies who lack the big budgets of major Hollywood studios.

 

In terms of its style, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is constructed in a sort of cinema verite’; positioning its audience as a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ of the events unfolding as the central character, Spurlock himself, journeys onwards in search of corporate sponsorship and testimony.

Perhaps the film’s most startling revelation, that schools were looking into selling their wall and bus space to advertisers, is indeed a somewhat grim reflection on the state of public education in America. When Spurlock interviews a principal, she states that “School is sacred, and shouldn’t be a place of advertising” while counterbalancing that with mentioning the fact that every year, the board of education looks for more and more ways to cut their costs. A real strength of this film is Spurlock’s ability to show, and not just tell story. With an ever-cheapening public education system, the audience is shown just how little the school system has to work with, and the conundrum of introducing advertising to perhaps one of the last pieces of untouched public space.

Spurlock successfully positions himself as the documentary’s protagonist, and in doing so guides the emotions and sympathies of the audience. However, the idea of product placement is barely a shock in itself; it’s something most of us just accept. The documentary’s greater crux is in fact the greater dependency of creative industry on corporate sponsorship, and its lasting impact on the film, music and media industries. On that note, I feel justified in saying it’s certainly worth seeing.