Color, NR (mature themes), 80 min., DVD only $9.95
DVD: extended interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, interview with media monitors
Available now
First Run: DVD premiere
Director: Robert Greenwald
ROBERT GREENWALD PRODUCTIONS/THE DISINFORMATION COMPANY
Following a solid week of media attention, Outfoxed unofficially premiered last weekend as the feature presentation at more than 3,400 "house parties" across the nation. An unabashedly partisan production, the film looks at the Fox News Channel and--in the eyes of the filmmakers--its complete dismissal of the "fair and balanced" slogan that has been its trademark since its 1996 creation. A well-edited, wall-to-wall compendium of talking head interviews with former Fox employees, comments from pundits and media analysts and Fox News clips, Outfoxed is far from subtle in its condemnation of Fox's rightward leanings, the larger, scarier picture being that a media empire--in this case, one owned by Rupert Murdoch--can present the news to the public any way it chooses. Hearing one-time Foxers (a handful of whom speak anonymously) talk about how they were forced to stress rightwing points of view is scary stuff, though it's sadly not as surprising as it might have sounded a decade ago. Most effective are clips of Fox on-air personalities Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly going at it whenever they're interviewing a left-thinking guest. One such encounter between O'Reilly and a liberal young man whose father was killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is so upsetting that it's hard to believe it's taking place on a news program. The word is out on the well--priced Outfoxed, and there are plenty of people who want to see it, so get it now before funneling your documentary dollars to the upcoming Fahrenheit 9/11. --Cyril Pearl