what’s the story behind the anti-michael moore film ‘an american carol’?

David Zucker, one of the great comedy minds that gave us “Airplane” and “The Naked Gun,” has a new film coming out on October 3rd. It’s called “An American Carol,” and, judging from the footage I’ve seen, it seems to revolve around Michael Moore, his insatiable appetite, and his use of public restrooms. In one particularly noteworthy scene, Chris Farley’s brother, who plays the Moore-like character in the film, finds himself in a porta-potty being slapped in the face by ghosts of American heroes, like General George Patton, and hate-caster extrodinaire Bill O’Reilly.

Here’s the plot summary according to the Internet Movie Database: “An anti-American filmmaker who’s out to abolish the July Fourth holiday is visited by three ghosts who try to show him the country’s good sides.”

I can’t imagine that there are enough people out there who viscerally hate Michael Moore to make a film like this economically viable, but you never know. Maybe there are a lot of Bush followers out there in America who are looking for an opportunity to once again feel good about themselves. Maybe it’s worth $9 to them to be able to slip into a darkened theater and laugh as Michael Moore passes gas and terrorists “Thank Allah for the ACLU.”

I didn’t know it until just now, but apparently Zucker changed political teams in the wake of the terrorist attacks on America in 2001. He refers to himself in interviews now as a “September 11 Republican.” Not only did he change teams, but he also started, at that time, to really use his talents on behalf of the Bush administration… You remember that anti-John Kerry television ad that focused on his “flip flops”? Well, that was Zucker. He also did an ad mocking the Iraq Study Group, which sought to cast those looking for non-military solutions in Iraq as Neville Chamberlain-like “appeasers.” So, he’s been working his way toward this – a feature about all of us assholes on the left – for some time now.

I was going to end this post by asking if any of my new Hollywood readers could shed a little light on how something like this got made, but I think I found the answer in that last link. Here’s a clip:

… On one of the days I was on set, McEveety had invited Vivendi Entertainment president Tom O’Malley to meet Zucker. Vivendi had just agreed to distribute the film and had promised wide release–news that had the cast and crew of An American Carol in particularly good spirits.

O’Malley and Zucker chatted about the fact that O’Malley is the nephew of Candid Camera’s Tom O’Malley and that they are both from the Midwest, among other things. Zucker thanked him for picking up the movie, which will be one of the first for Vivendi’s new distribution arm. O’Malley told Zucker that he was particularly interested in this film in part because he, too, leans right.

Such revelations are common occurrences at the periodic meetings of the secret society of Hollywood conservatives known as the “Friends of Abe.” The group, with no official membership list and no formal mission, has been meeting under the leadership of Gary Sinise (CSI New York, Forrest Gump) for four years….

So, it’s not just that this film was cheap to make because Republican “celebrities” like Gary Coleman, Paris Hilton, and Kelsey Grammer (all of whom are all in this film) work for considerably less than good actors. It’s that other Republicans in the industry – like the producer of “The Passion of the Christ,” who also worked on this project – took financial risks to make it happen. Even if it doesn’t make a dime, they’ve accomplished what they set out to do. They’ve interjected the “these people hate America” meme into our election year political discourse.

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7 Comments

  1. publius
    Posted August 19, 2008 at 9:27 am | Permalink

    It really bugs me that that lying sack of crap Michael Moore is often seen wearing a Spartan hat. Thanks for the preview. Looks like a good movie.

  2. nammeroo
    Posted August 19, 2008 at 10:25 am | Permalink

    Sounds like it will be as good a flick as Sicko or Fahrenheit 9/11!

  3. Posted August 19, 2008 at 11:36 am | Permalink

    I’ll see it for sure. David Zucker’s great. If you haven’t seen “Brain Donors” it’s worth renting the DVD. It’s like a Marx Brothers movie.

    I’m no big fan of Michael Moore. I thought it was funny that his film festival is held up in Traverse City and not anywhere near Flint. I want to produce a film where all I do in it is follow him around hounding him for that, and see if I can get it entered in his festival.

  4. Chelsea
    Posted August 19, 2008 at 3:23 pm | Permalink

    That’s interesting, that “September 11 Republican” thing. I have to admit that the first question I tried to answer about both major prexie candidates was, Who has the better plan for dealing with terrorism? I’d place that among our biggest concerns as a nation. But I didn’t conclude that it was McCain (though I still respect the man on a personal level) or, for that matter, any Republican.

  5. ytown
    Posted August 19, 2008 at 7:32 pm | Permalink

    Mark, you are seriously whining about this movie? You’re kidding, right? Hollywood is as liberal a place as there is in America. Along comes one move that a half-dozen people will see and you are complaining! Get over it. You criticize conservatives and Republicans repeatedly, David Zucker can criticize liberal view points as well. Chill out. Do you think people will change their voting decision based on what they see in this movie?

    I’m back! Where’s my party?

  6. mark
    Posted August 19, 2008 at 8:14 pm | Permalink

    I happen to like Michael Moore, and I appreciate what he does. For all the complaining about him on the right, I’m not aware of anyone having been able to dispute his claims in either F911 or Sicko. Instead, they have a fat guy pretend to be him and get slapped in the face while taking a shit.

    Hilarious AND insightful.

    Bravo!

  7. mark
    Posted August 20, 2008 at 9:19 pm | Permalink

    What, no responses to my last comment?

    You disappoint me, boys.

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