Beginning as a nose-to-the-ground investigation into the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell's doc expands into a damning indictment of the government-lobbyist revolving door, the campaign finance system and corporate capitalism in general. Determined to rake muck---or rather, petroleum---the filmmakers journey to the affected site, interviewing local fishermen about the consequences of the spill, sneaking into fenced-off areas to record the damage and refute official claims that the leak has been definitively contained.
The Tickells certainly know how to stoke righteous indignation, mingling the words of those suffering because of the disaster with expert testimony, and uncovering what amounts to a conspiracy involving BP, the makers of the toxic dispersant Corexit and a large part of the federal government. Similarly, they handily counter disingenuous political rhetoric with graphics showing the campaign contributions various candidates have received from Big Oil. But for all its connect-the-dots mapping and damning narration, The Big Fix hardly provides the viewer with any information not easily gleaned from even a cursory glance through the left-wing blogosphere; it's more a summarizing project than an act of investigative journalism or a revelatory indictment.
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