I know, I know, I’m seriously slacking in bringing you news of this excellent documentary that has all but left theaters by now, but—let’s be honest—this is a movie most people will watch at home anyway. And see it they should. It’s not just the most “important” film I’ve seen this year, but also a well-made, entertaining, and intriguing movie in its own right.
What Works: “Merchants of Doubt” is about fake (and sometimes real) scientists or various “experts” who get paid by industries to peddle doubt about the science of a harmful product. It’s been used on everything from pharmaceuticals to “food” companies that are really chemical companies, but the doc spends most of its time zeroing in on two notorious examples: Big Tobacco–the grandfather of “the Science isn’t clear yet”–and Big Fossil Fuels, drawing clear parallels between them except that Big Fossil is even more nefarious since climate crisis is killing us all. [Not like the stakes are high or anything.]
Director Robert Kenner skillfully intercuts scenes of magicians plying their trade with the talking points of “academic” con artists hawking their paid bullet points everywhere from hilariously ignorant conferences to Faux News to (scarier still) credible news outlets like CNN, where the paid-Doubters are often given the same respect as legitimate scientists. Before this, Kenner directed the excellent Food Inc. which got a conversation started on chemicalized food, and hopefully this will eventually do the same in raising awareness to the pundits-for-hire business.
When was the last time you saw a documentary that didn’t just inform you on a topic, but shows you how bad information gets created in the first place? “Merchants” doesn’t just illuminate a subject, it just might illuminate the way you think, sharpening your critical thinking in the process.
What Doesn’t: I think some viewers–especially those who prefer their documentaries to be on the “Hitler’s encounters with UFOs” side of things–may get restless watching “Merchants” and that’d be a real shame since this is, so far, the best film I’ve seen this year.
What I Would Have Done Differently: As I said, this is the best film I’ve seen this year (so far), and also happens to carry the distinction of being a film any citizen should see so the last thing I’m going to do is give anyone an excuse not to see it.