This Divided State

Released Jul 22, 2005

1h 28m

Documentary

List

83%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

A community-wide battle over free speech is ignited in the most unlikely of places: Utah's sleepy Mormon country, which for the most part leans conservative in its politics. The brouhaha starts prior to the 2004 presidential election, when Utah Valley State College's student body invites Michael Moore, the incendiary filmmaker behind "Bowling for Columbine," to give a speech on campus. This is met by public outrage, death threats and even a bribery attempt to stop the visit from taking place.

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Critics Consensus

This Divided State takes a flawed yet engrossing ground-level look at how ideological differences can fuel discord -- and how quickly it can spread.

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Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

It's a discomfiting film, bringing up all the ugly emotion of last year's electoral shouting match, concentrated in one town in one state and in one short 88-minute film.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 8, 2005

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

Variety

As boisterous as it is sobering.

Sep 2, 2005

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Frank Scheck

Hollywood Reporter

It lacks the substance to sustain its feature-length running time.

Aug 29, 2005

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Mark R. Leeper

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Rated: high +1 out of -4..+4

Jul 27, 2007

Full Review

Jules Brenner

Cinema Signals

The approach to recording the story is everything its subjects aren't.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 28, 2007

Full Review

Eric Monder

Film Journal International

Vivid, dramatic stuff.

Mar 1, 2007

Full Review

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Audience Member

An incendiary documentary that captures the controversy surrounding an invitation for Michael Moore to speak at a Utah university in the lead up to the Bush / Kerry election in 2004. First time director Steven Greenstreet wisely chooses to keep away from narration, focusing instead on letting the event protagonists speak their minds, and reveal their attitudes on camera, with seemingly equal exposure given to conservative views and liberal views. The participants are incredibly candid and open with the filmmakers, which really allows the viewer to feel a personal connection with this community, political or religious views notwithstanding. Some genuinely funny scenes and people as well. Sadly, and scarily, my conclusion after watching this is that it seems many have a tenuous grasp on what freedom of speech actually is, and the importance of civil discourse. What's more, lots of feverishly strong opinions without facts to back them up - on both sides of the coin. Technically, the film is rough around the edges, betraying the fact its the work of students who maxed out three credit cards to complete the film, but their efforts have been well worth it; This Divided State is suprisingly effective.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

The righteous fight by Bush supporters to be able stick fingers in their ears and go LA LA LA I CANT HEAR YOU.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

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Audience Member

Great documentary about the outrage caused when a college in conservative Utah decided to let Michael Moore speak. Really shocking at what lengths people were willing to go just to prevent this....

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Interesting look at how a narrow minded community in Utah (what a surprise) tried to prevent Michael Moore from speaking at a university. Obviously this flies against the principle of free speech, but that never stopped the zealots out there. It really is quite simple, go listen if you want and don't go if you don't want to. I guess them exercising their right to protest is a form of free speech and expression. It is amazing that alot of the protesters there hadn't actually seen any of MM's movies or read his books. It kinda makes it hard to take them seriously.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Its a good documentary. It comes across as being pretty fair and does seem to develop the pros and cons that seem to follow Michael Moore around. I do however find alot of the closed mind, republican views pretty scary. Thank god the democrats one 4 years later.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

How refreshing it is to see a documentary that tries to show you both sides of the coin. The con and pro Moore sides get to express their reasons for taking the positions they do and the doc lets the audience make up its mind as to what the right choices are and why.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

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Steven Greenstreet

Director

Kenneth F. Brown

Actor

Michael Moore

Actor

Sean Hannity

Actor

Michael Nigro

Actor

Joe Vogel

Actor

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Synopsis

A community-wide battle over free speech is ignited in the most unlikely of places: Utah's sleepy Mormon country, which for the most part leans conservative in its politics. The brouhaha starts prior to the 2004 presidential election, when Utah Valley State College's student body invites Michael Moore, the incendiary filmmaker behind "Bowling for Columbine," to give a speech on campus. This is met by public outrage, death threats and even a bribery attempt to stop the visit from taking place.

Director: Steven Greenstreet
Distributor: Minority Films LLC
Production Co: Minority Films LLC
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 22, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 8, 2018
Runtime: 1h 28m

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