Director Morgan Spurlock’s latest offering, “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” represents the culmination of his work-to-date by combining two of his favorite hobbies: uncovering what people are willing to endure for money and placing some aspect of his life in harm’s way. Spurlock began his career as a television producer of the short-lived MTV game show “I Bet You Will,” which featured fame-starved students eating bizarre foods for beer money. He then placed his health in danger by bingeing on McDonald’s for a month straight and later risked decapitation in a quixotic search for Osama bin Laden. It is only fitting that, for a career founded on risk, the “Super Size Me” auteur would risk his career by cashing in on his hard-earned street cred to hilarious returns.
Just how much is Spurlock’s street cred worth? Approximately $1.5 million. In his contribution to the postmodern documentary genre that was all the rage last year, Spurlock attempts to illustrate the rampant use of product placement in movies by soliciting corporations to advertise their products within his film in exchange for the entire $1.5 million production budget. Spurlock argues that movie tie-ins are what make a film a blockbuster — surely anyone who has visited a drive-thru during the summer months would agree — and using that reasoning, his goal is to create the “’Iron Man’ of documentaries” by creating a film of blatant advertisements.
Spurlock’s self-reflexive would-be blockbuster begins with him cold-calling every major corporation for co-promotion opportunities (unsurprisingly, McDonald’s turns him down) to no avail. His controversial reputation leads him to seek brand rehabilitation via marketing firms, which in turn discover his “brand personality” in order to play matchmaker with companies that share the same values. Of the 14 companies that play well with Spurlock (as well as the island nation of Aruba), POM Wonderful pomegranate juice ponies up the $1 million price tag to have its name attached to the title for posterity, thus becoming “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.”
However, in this Faustian bargain for movie financing, Spurlock quickly realizes that he signed away creative control of his film through clauses that demand the sponsors’ final approval before the film hits theaters. This leads to a litany of Hollywood horror stories where directors are forced off jobs for failing to comply with advertisers’ demands — supplying the reason for the dramatic decline in quality for Hollywood blockbusters. In an attempt to navigate the contractual minefield of corporate filmmaking, Spurlock seeks out established directors for advice — most notably the destroyer of the “X-Men” franchise and hack extraordinaire Brett Ratner. When questioned about concerns of control and artistic integrity in his films, Ratner delivers the following gem, “Artistic integrity? Whatever.” As Ratner sits in his palatial estate with a perpetual s—- eating grin on his face, Spurlock looks at him like he’s the Ghost of Christmas Future — a specter of impending schlock and smug satisfaction imploring Spurlock to change his ways and return to personal filmmaking. Can Spurlock survive this documentary with his career and dignity intact or will he sell out to a Ratnerian degree? And more importantly, what are the benefits of 100 percent all-natural pomegranate juice?
Spurlock rounds out his documentary with a rogues’ gallery of leading anti-consumerist crusaders. However, despite interviews with heavyweights such as Noam Chomsky and Ralph Nader, Spurlock never forms a cohesive argument involving the role of product placement in film. Instead, he treats covert marketing as an inescapable fact of life. And while the film raises awareness about the depths marketers are willing to travel to establish brand awareness — including one particularly chilling firm that uses MRIs to determine which commercials trigger the release of chemicals in the brain to manipulate viewer receptiveness — the conspicuous premise is more of a vehicle for Spurlock’s humor than an invitation for public discourse. With that said, from the ubiquitous POM bottles to the mid-film 30-second commercials for his sponsors, Spurlock exploits the comedic potential of the film for maximum effect.
Unlike notorious culture jammers The Yes Men, who used humor to take aim at the entire capitalist system in their eponymous documentary, or provocateur Banksy, who ruthlessly mocked art consumers in “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” Spurlock targets — in so much as this film has a target — the celebrities who have long since crossed the boundary from spokesperson to corporate shill. Spurlock’s ironic mugging and custom suit embroidered with his sponsors’ logos are little more than a funhouse mirror reflection of the cross-promotional work expected of celebrities today. When a talk show host tells him, “You are the biggest whore I’ve ever seen,” Spurlock laughs because he is in on the joke. And that joke is on the rest of Hollywood.
For more information about “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” visit sonyclassics.com.
Movie: POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Directed by: Morgan Spurlock
Release Date: Tomorrow
Grade: B+
