‘Roger & Me’ Film on GM Layoffs a Hit at Home

BURTON, Mich. —  Working and laid-off auto workers hailed “Roger & Me,” the documentary on General Motors Corp.’s devastating layoffs in Flint, where the world’s largest company was born.

“Michael Moore did this town a favor; he gave us a voice in this world,” Phil Higgins, 33, of Flint, said as the crowd emerged Tuesday from the premiere showing. Higgins is a Chevrolet Division metal fabricator,

“He hit it right on the head,” said Steve Cockran, 35, laid off after 13 years in quality control and production jobs at various GM facilities.

Spotlights jabbed a snowy sky outside Showcase Cinemas in Burton, where all 14 theaters showed the film produced, directed by and starring journalist Michael Moore.

It could not be shown in nearby Flint, the closing credits pointed out. In the economic slump, “All the movie theaters have closed.”

The United Auto Workers also came of age in Flint, in a 1937 sit-down strike at a GM plant, and Moore gave away many of the 4,500 free premiere tickets Tuesday afternoon at a rally at the union’s largest GM local.

“Roger & Me,” named best documentary by the Los Angeles Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review, portrays fruitless efforts by Moore to interview GM Chairman Roger Smith about the elimination of 30,000 GM jobs and resulting evictions and abandonment of entire neighborhoods.

The premiere crowd booed and hissed when Smith appeared on the screen and cheered UAW President Owen Bieber.

Moore arrived at the premiere wearing a tweed jacket, open-neck shirt, blue jeans and sneakers, and apologizing about his limousine. “They made me ride in it,” he said.

Inside, he was cheered. “We’ve all lived here all our lives. We’ve seen what’s happened to our town,” he said. “We wanted to make this film so we can show people what’s happening here, so not only Flint, but the rest of America would be concerned about the growing gap between rich and poor these days.”

Peter Rainer reviews “Roger & Me” in today’s Calendar, F1.