Saw a rather incredible movie last night, the new Michael Moore film "Sicko". I'm sure Michael is quite possibly a bit of a wanker. I know there were several scenes set up to deliver more of a punch than they would have otherwise. I'm pretty sure the Cuban hospital stay was prearranged rather than spur of the moment. For most of the things that the anti-Moore camp will come out with, I'm sure there are a few grains of truth, and that his style of documentary is a bit too revolutionary and guided to escape such criticism, however honest and truthful it also is.

However.

All that allowed, this is still one of the best developed and most important films I've seen recently. For style and humour and moments of sheer ache, I'd put it above "An Inconvenient Truth" which I felt at the time and still do feel should be required viewing. "Sicko" is not the story of the US health system and how it fails the uninsured, as some reviews have stated (please see the film you're getting paid to review or give me your job). It's about the poor bastards who paid into a safety net and how they were screwed out their sanity and lives in the name of for profit care. The wife who watches her husband die for want of approval on his surgical procedure; the mother who speaks of apologizing to her daughters corpse after being turned away from a hospital because "it was the wrong one for her plan" resulting in a two hour delay in treating a fever; the husband and wife forced by cancer and heart attacks to move in to their daughters basement on the day their son in law is shipped to Iraq; the HMO doctor who recounts before a court the number of people she's been rewarded for killing; the 9/11 volunteers denied coverage because they weren't on the city pay roll – punished for acting out of the decency in their hearts. There is something very wrong with the American health "care" system, something rooted in a past presidency and revealed on tape in this film. You find out where it started, what it means to the average American today, how it affects the doctors who are put in the position of dropping the uninsured off at homeless shelters and watching helplessly as the insured suffer in front of them. Then it takes a look at other countries in order of quality of care, starting with Canada. Sure, we don't have a nation wide catastrophic drug plan and we should. If you've got one of the big nasties and no group plan, you're likely SOL outside of a hospital stay. But if you cut yourself you aren't obligated to do your own stitches. If you cut a couple of fingers off you don't have to pick which ones are sewn back on. We take care of people. Next up was Britain, which has standard prices for all drugs and even better (by the look of it) hospital care. Then there was France, a country every American is trained from birth to loath, who are for all appearances the most friendly, relaxed, happy and lovable lot. Who take care of their people and have 5 weeks holiday. Who supply a few hours a week of home care to new mothers including laundry service to allow them support. Hospital stays are covered. Necessary time off work is covered. College? Yeah, that too. Bonjour.

The first and second acts were hard hitting and enlightening. The third? Taking a boat to Guatanamo bay to try to secure "the same health care Al Queda is getting" for 9/11 volunteers? Ballsy. Huge freaking balls employed. The next eclipse? Could well be Michael Moore's balls. Do not, under any circumstances, look up.

"Sicko" is worth seeing, and seeing again. It's worth talking about and taking a careful look at the US system. It may provoke some lively discussion on the privatization of the Canadian health care system. If we're broke, it's because we're broken and need to fix what's up with the system in play. Perhaps model some revisions after the UK and France, but not - please not - look south for answers. Their answers there are steeped in profit but also misery and a culture of nurtured apathy toward human life. The answers there smell of sulfur and rot. Let us look toward a future of universal drug costs, but more importantly preventative medicine where doctors are rewarded for patient smoking cessation or weight loss and such. Let us look to a future where people are supplied with legitimate informed options on their health, options which may or may not include the latest and greatest wonder pill. Where we take care of one another, and act in partnership because it's the right thing to do and the way is made clear for us. Our health care is precious and essential. Let us not fuck it up.