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Starring |
Morgan Spurlock
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Ralph Nader
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Quentin Tarantino
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Donald Trump
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Noam Chomsky
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Directed By |
Morgan Spurlock
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Audio
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Dolby Digital 5.1
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Visuals
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16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
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Running Time |
88 mins
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UK Release Date |
February 27, 2012
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Genre |
Documentary
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Our Rating |
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User Rating |
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I've always had something of a blind spot regarding product placement. While some people seem to have had entire movies ruined for them by the amount of insidious advertising in a particular film, for the most part such things tend to go right over my head.
There was little chance of that happening here, however. Product placement is not only the theme of The Greatest Movie Ever Sold but also makes up much of its content. For Morgan Spurlock (the man who lived off McDonalds meals for a full month in Super Size Me) has set himself a new challenge: to make a film about product placement, financing it solely from commercial sponsorship.
Perhaps surprisingly this makes for an interesting documentary. For one thing, Spurlock is effectively getting companies to provide advertising for a film that condemns advertising in films. It's almost as if Michael Moore had managed to persuade the Bush campaign to finance Fahrenheit 9-11.
Actually, Spurlock holds back from condemning advertising too strongly but he does prompt a few questions along the way. He meets Green Presidential candidate Ralph Nader who he impresses with a pair of Merrells. He discusses on-screen advertising with big movie names such as JJ Abrams and Quentin Tarantino. He also visits Sao Paulo where all street advertising was banned in response to public demand.
It's also amusing to see Spurlock occasionally break into full blown advertising mode during the film, suddenly plugging a product with all the sincerity of Laura Linney's character in The Truman Show.
A documentary about advertising won't appeal to everyone, but it's impressive to see how effectively Morgan Spurlock manages to subvert the system from the inside. It's also the only film I can think of which is effectively about the making of itself. Which is in itself quite a feat.
Overall Verdict: Funny, thought provoking and intelligent, if you buy one DVD today make sure it's The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.
Special Features:
Additional Footage
Reviewer: Chris Hallam
