The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Watchable, though not particularly illuminating documentary on product placement. Morgan Spurlock visits image consultants and product representatives, and pitches his notion of having them fund his documentary in exchange for gratuitous advertising throughout. The consultants and executives are far more interesting than the concept. At least one of the products I had no idea was still around - so this was a win for them. Major companies who declined had me scratching my head. The budget for this film was minuscule. $1.5 million. A major corporation's investment would have been petty. Decline. One pled that documentary viewers were too few to matter. Perhaps. Spurlock remains a recognizable name, however, and documentary viewers are oft times intelligent. Film was short, humorous, and I did sympathize with company honchos. Notwithstanding, I do tune out their ads.

Good, but not great, documentary. The idea of a movie-within-that-same- movie, basically "The making of...(the movie)" IS the movie, is brilliant. Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me fame) handles this part superbly, setting out from the beginning to have this Mobius Strip-like structure to the movie, and weaving a great web around this.However, the central theme of the movie, marketing and all its disguises, is hardly revolutionary or controversial. The idea of brand positioning in movies is not new, or even subtly done. So Spurlock's movie doesn't really cover new ground in that respect, though it does neatly package and inform us on the subject. The problem with using corporate sponsors to fund the movie means Spurlock has to pull his punches when exposing the lengths of evils of brand positioning. If he had set out to trash the concept, he would have no sponsors and no funding, thus no movie.So the movie's own concept dooms it to being less than brilliant.Overall, worth watching, but not as enthralling as I would have expected.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Shocked at the way big name Hollywood blockbusters can get by by placing brand names in them, and at the way everywhere you turn these days people seem to be trying to sell you something, acclaimed rabble rouser Morgan Spurlock tries to make his own film, selling itself and getting promotion by selling out to as many corporate brand names as he can find. While learning how corporatism has robbed the heart and soul out of everything around him, Morgan finds his own heart and soul come to be ripped out by what he has set out to do.While the success of his 2004 indie hit Super Size Me could have launched him into the stratosphere and made him something of a cult figure, acclaimed film maker Morgan Spurlock would appear to have stuck to his small scale roots and continued down his path of exposing the dark side of corporations and consumerism. While he can be admired for sticking to the formula that set him down the road he's on, that's not to say his antics can't become tiresome, and I have to admit, despite the interesting concept and his good intentions, I did find myself becoming bored by the goings on in this film.I never really paid much attention before, but I have started noticing lately how the relentless and aggressive methods of advertising all around us can destroy the heart and atmosphere of wherever they are placed, with some even suggesting it may have played a part in last year's UK riots, so as well as an interesting idea, Spurlock also has a relevant subject matter at hand. It is weird how this doesn't feel it has worked as well as it could have, but the execution and the way he goes about it just fails to work. He ends up feeling not so much a sell out, but a no sale. **

It's hard to imagine this documentary being present anyone other that 'Morgan Spurlock'. His charismatic nature grabs you from the get go and refuses to let go. Back in 2004 he brought us 'Super Size Me' in which he challenged himself with the task of only eating McDonalds for 30 days, now he brings us 'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold' which explores the world of product placement within films and whether or not it's a benefit. If 'Werner Herzog' were to direct this feature a more tightened and more polished experience would have been provided but Spurlock is let loose with the idea of bringing awareness of product placement to audiences in a free spirited and pop culturist way which is where the heart and fun of this film lies.Large portions of films shown within your local multiplex are funded through product placement, which is the incorporation of perhaps a Pepsi can within the shot or a conversation about a popular deodorant. It's a subtle marketing tool used to sell that product to the audience without them realizing. Spurlock uses this a tool and for the basic premise of the film. To fund the film entirely through product placement. It's a hard feat but Spurlock rises to the challenge and with so provides us hilarious results, for example one of the products he manages to convince to fund his film is 'Mame 'n Tail' which is a shampoo not only for humans, but for horses as well.The main sponsor however is 'POM Wonderful', the drink that is composed of '100% pomegranate juice' and even bags the films official title of 'POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold'. As Spurlock takes us through these different company meetings to raise money for his feature we are shown the amount of control he is giving up over his film and how much the corporations can dictate into the creative process. Interviews with 'Quentin Tarantino' and 'J.J Abrams' enlighten us with their experiences and their views with Tarantino explaining how his early films all consisted within the same branch of fast food restaurants and Abrams perception of product placement being that it should never interfere with the main principle of film, storytelling.Despite these realities though, it's a comical, breezy affair and that's what it's intended to be. Spurlock has never been more engaging and fascinating to watch, he drives the film with a passion not seen by many other men and would make a great promotional speaker. We see him pitch ideas for his film and even the idea of 30-second commercials within the film for the companies that decide to work along side him from 'POM' being able to give more stable erections to a 'Mame 'N Tail' spot featuring Spurlock bathing with a horse. Half of the fun however is the awareness of product placement being shown to us and through a variety of montages we see this and becomes clearer. Having watched 'Real Steel' immediately after it was interesting to note how many placements actually laid within a big blockbuster release and after one scene had a sudden craving for a particular energy drink.In 2006 'Kirby Dick' released a documentary known as 'This Film Is Not Yet Rated' in which he tried to expose the American film ratings board and exploited the idea of whether movies were rated fairly. The film portrayed the ratings board in a negative light so it was easy to grasp but at the same time showing representatives from both sides of the argument. Spurlock however never really nails a side of the argument and gives us an unbiased view, which is fine but then he never represents clearly what he intends to bring to the audience. Is it to show that he can in fact produce a film entirely through product placement? Are we meant to be aware of what's been shown to us? Or are we being pushed to our own side of the subject matter? With no defining conclusion other than the film being released it's hard to maintain a focused idea on what we're being shown and never works on the same levels as great documentaries do.Despite this however it was an enjoyable way to spend the 80 minutes I sat and watched it. Through a constant bombardment of gags and comical situations it never becomes boring or dull as some documentaries ever do and at the same time is constantly informing the audience. It has certainly opened my eyes to product placement in films and that may be the whole purpose of the film, but it's never interpreted in that way and the scenes of Spurlock trying to fund his film are far more interesting than other peoples views or opinions on the matter which makes it work more on a film level rather than the documentary it intended to be.