“Bowling for Columbine” poses one major question: why does America have such an obsession with guns? Firearm homicides in the United States total over 11,000 each year, dwarfing statistics in other countries like England and Canada. People are quick to issue blame for a society so violent in nature, and fingers point toward such potential offenders as rock music, video games and violent movies. And yet, as Moore concludes, Japan has all of these things. Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are huge in France. And Germany is a breeding ground of violent goth rock. So who or what is to blame for the astronomical gun homicide rate in the United States? In “Bowling for Columbine”, Moore’s search for the answer to that question provides an incisive, disturbing and hilarious documentary that rattles the nerves like no fictional film has been able to in years.

Moore looks to many possible sources throughout his quest. He addresses the media and its reputation of conditioning people to fear. The crime rate, it seems, has gone down 20% in the past few decades, and yet media coverage of murders has skyrocketed; exposed to such violence, how does the common citizen react when they feel the need to protect themselves? Moore also confronts several celebrities, including the alarmingly well-spoken thrash rocker Marilyn Manson, who has the most profound statement in the entire film, when Moore asks him what he would say to the survivors of the Columbine shootings (which he was publicly blamed for in certain protests) if he had the chance. Manson responds, “I wouldn’t say anything to them, I would listen to them.” Why not the point the finger at their own president, Manson adds, who happened to be dropping bombs on Kosovo that same day. Moore later makes the argument that the sport of bowling should be held responsible, because that’s what Columbine gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were doing the very morning of the tragedy. It seems just as rational as blaming a rocker with “obscene and disgusting” music, wouldn’t you say?

One should not forget that Moore is an expert at manipulation; when an elementary school bursts into tears on camera, the filmmaker comforts her with complete sincerity, but the camera is, of course, always running. Moore needs to put a face to the bad guys, and he demonizes K-Mart executives during a visit to their headquarters in Michigan with two survivors of the Columbine shootings, who were shot by bullets purchased at their store. Then, there’s the thin connection that leads Moore to restaurant shareholder Dick Clark that is equally desperate in its attempt to find a scapegoat for the shooting death of a young child. Moore also makes a stop in Canada, where he discovers that most Ontarions don’t lock their doors. But Canada is no utopia, Mr. Moore - you fail the mention the school shooting in Taber, Alberta that made me afraid to attend my own high school. “Bowling for Columbine” reaches its gut-wrenching finale with Moore sitting down to speak with NRA president Charlton Heston, in which he basically ends up assaulting the crotchety old man. But, in the end, it may be worth it.

“Bowling for Columbine” is powerful filmmaking, not only disturbing (with footage of the Columbine tragedy and the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01), but laugh-out-loud funny with its observant humor and the thoroughly entertaining tactics of its relentless director and star. This is a great film, and a tough one to shake.