Michael Moore has remained relatively quiet during this heated election cycle — but that’s not because he hasn’t had something to say. It turns out the provocative documentarian was hard at work over the last year writing a one-man play entitled Michael Moore in TrumpLand. Just under two weeks ago, he performed the show in Ohio, filmed it, and on Tuesday night he held a surprise premiere for audiences in New York.
Moore originally intended to put on the production at Newark, OH’s Midland Theatre, but claims he was “banned” for being too controversial. (The Midland says they cut off negotiations because of other factors.) However, he was able to find another home to stage the show in Wilmington, a predominantly Republican area in, ironically, Clinton County. TrumpLand was filmed there over two nights and put together for release in just 11 days.
“See the film Ohio Republicans tried to shut down,” reads a synopsis. “Oscar-winner Michael Moore dives right into hostile territory with his daring and hilarious one-man show, deep in the heart of TrumpLand in the weeks before the 2016 election.”
A review from the New York Times describes the movie as more of a stand-up comedy routine than Moore’s typical documentaries. It also apparently isn’t the takedown of Trump one might expect; rather, it’s a plea for people to actually go out and vote for Hillary Clinton. “Mr. Moore has basically made an earnest but not very entertaining pro-Clinton campaign film,” reads the review, “occasionally funny, momentarily heartfelt when he takes up the subject of universal health care and the lives lost for lack of it.”
(Interestingly, the film came together before the infamous “locker room talk” tape was leaked, so Moore makes no mention of it. Just goes to show how quickly things have unraveled this election.)
TrumpLand debuted Tuesday night at New York City’s IFC Center with a free screening that had folks lining up around the block. As of today, the film will have a one-week run at IFC and a limited release at the Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino, Los Angeles. It will also be available on iTunes at some point in the coming days.
