I don't plan on defending Michael Moore or his gentle way of making a point with the subtlety of a sledgehammer opening a soft-boiled egg. I've never sat all the way through one of his movies before. But I wanted to see this one, since I used to live near Littleton, CO.

The movie isn't as focused specifically on Columbine as one would guess from the title. The title itself is derived from the supposition that the two Columbine shooters had gone bowling in the early morning before launching on their rampage. The movie also points out that they were actually in a bowling class, a physical ed. elective, as the reason for the morning's entertainment. It also points out that the same day as the shootings, the U.S. embarked on it's single-largest one-day bombing campaign over Kosovo.

From there, the movie goes in a different direction than one would suspect. While it certainly focuses on the enthusiasm for guns that permeates American society, Moore focuses more closely on the culture of fear that seems to be just as prevalent. He looks to European countries to compare violent histories, and looks to Canada to compare gun-ownership numbers. There are an estimated 7 million guns in the 10 million homes in Canada. Considering the ratio of gun-ownership to the general population, the fact that Canada's gun-death numbers are so drastically lower than ours is nothing short of amazing.

Among the people Moore interviews are Columbine survivors and parents, townsfolk from Flint, MI, where a 6-year-old boy took a gun to school and shot a classmate, gun dealers, Michigan Militia, and Charleton Heston himself. He also speaks with Marilyn Manson, who was widely blamed for the actions of the Columbine shooters:

Moore:

If you could talk to the parents at Columbine, what would you say?

Manson:

Nothing. I'd listen. No one's done that yet.

There were laugh-out-loud moments in the movie, and some frighteningly sad ones. I recommend the movie, but with some reservations. It can be very emotionally heavy at times. But I think it's less preachy than his earlier films, and I think it makes some really valid points.