A fairly typical example of fictionalized story lines and characters, based on actual events, Battle In Seattle doesn’t deliver anything new on what was an unprecedented event in the history of free speech in this country. Namely that disparate groups in the protest movement could find common ground to present a case en masse.

But actors and actorly moments are all just plot devices to move the grafted-on story along. Feisty comrades-in-arms yelling “just walk away again”, the media not getting it right or outright lying, people trying to do good work for bad organizations, and all concerned making boneheaded decisions, political and personal, with the required button-pushing moments designed to elicit outrage. With all that has happened in the last 10 years, or for that matter at any time in history, how can we really be surprised anymore about greed and human nature? If you want to know about the protests, watch the documentary This Is What Democracy Looks Like. Heaven knows there’s enough newsreel footage in Battle In Seattle anyway.

Lazy scriptwriting aside, Battle In Seattle never really lags, so it’s possible to be drawn in, but it’s a case of preaching to the choir while they shout slogans back through a bullhorn. Director Stuart Townsend seems to think he’s being fair and trying to tell at least most sides of the story. Some scenes end up being distracting because you can tell it’s a small group of actors and not the masses of people taking to the streets.

Do I have anything against someone believing in a subject and trying to get a message out there? No. Do I believe that you should regroup, retrench and rethink if all you have is a message with second rate writing? Yes.

Do we really need a Crash lite?

Unfortunately most of what came out of the WTO protests was that governments learned how to lock out protesters more efficiently. “Fool me once…” etc. To this day a lot of people still do the work, putting their beliefs on the line and trying to make the world aware of injustice. We most definitely are more aware. But as recent events show, it’s “…fool me twice and fool me again and yet again another time…” – [DVD]

Action/Drama

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 3/10/09

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