---
title: "Capitalism: A Love Story: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/capitalism-a-love-story/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/capitalism-a-love-story"
critics_score: 58
critics_reviews: 20
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Capitalism: A Love Story (2009): what the critics said

Critics' score 58 from 20 reviews: 9 positive, 5 mixed, 6 negative.

Most critics come out warm but not far past it. The agreement is that Moore is back on home ground: the film is called punchy, timely and entertaining, and the praise clusters on his stunts, his comic timing and the interviews with families losing their homes, which several reviews find moving. The archive footage of Roosevelt and the passages on dead peasant insurance and derivatives are singled out as the moments where the film explains something rather than shouts it. Variety goes furthest, calling it one of his best.

The reservations cluster on the argument. Even friendly reviews say the film is scattershot, offers no coherent account of the crash or the bailout, and proposes nothing beyond faith in democracy and, several note, in Obama. The spread is wide. Sight and Sound dismisses it as didactic agit-prop without analytic rigour, Slant as a simplistic diatribe, and two British reviews written after the 2010 release find it already old news.

## Evening Standard

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. 

Moore returns to his roots with a timely, fiery exposé of corporate greed and its human cost, full of shocking revelations and moral fury. The film succeeds as an entertaining, inflammatory call to arms even if it is preachy and archive-heavy.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/crash-bang-wallop-its-capitalism-a-love-story-7418764.html)

## Variety — Leslie Felperin

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2009. Festival review. 

By returning to his roots, Moore turns in one of his best films, skewering the banking industry and explaining the meltdown accessibly; it has plenty to annoy critics but delivers a pugnacious, upbeat message despite some sentimentality.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/capitalism-a-love-story-1200476414/)

## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 30 September 2009. 

The film speaks eloquently at times through archival footage of FDR and revelations about corporate practices like dead peasant insurance and derivatives, but Moore's message is sometimes unclear and he offers no clear solutions beyond faith in democracy.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/capitalism-a-love-story-2009)

## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 23 September 2009. 

Moore picks a timely big subject and retains his provocateur skills and comedic instincts, but the scattershot approach means the film is the sum of its parts; it reveals him as a New Deal Democrat rather than a socialist.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-sep-23-et-capitalism23-story.html)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 February 2010. 

Moore's punchy, entertaining documentary takes on bankers and the bailout with his familiar mix of stunts, revelations and victim interviews. The critic is won over by the energy, wit and pertinence despite familiar format and omissions.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/feb/25/capitalism-a-love-story-review)

## The Hollywood Reporter — The Associated Press

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2009. Festival review. 

The critic finds the film a typical Moore work that is funny and over-the-top with dubious documentation but makes strong points about corporate America's impact on ordinary people. It is less focused than his earlier films due to its abstract subject but features genuinely moving personal stories.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/capitalism-love-story-film-review-93464/)

## The Times — Wendy Ide

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 26 February 2010. 

Moore's broadest film lands some telling blows on Wall Street despite seeming skittish and unfocused. It mounts a persuasive case that something is rotten in the economic system.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/capitalism-a-love-story-vdg8gz9spf8)

## Empire — Damon Wise

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2010. 

The film is a blend of angry indictment and palliative reassurance that leaves it contradictory and less powerful than it could be. Moore's passion and provocative highlights are still evident despite the confusion.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/capitalism-love-story-review/)

## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 23 September 2009. 

Moore goes after the capitalist system itself after years of targeting big business, but the film lacks real answers and is limited as mainstream socially minded filmmaking; it is a tragedy disguised as comedy and entertainment.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/movies/23capitalism.html)

## Time Out — Ben Walters

Rating 3/5. 23 February 2010. 

Moore excels with impactful stunts and addresses the US audience on capitalism’s social harms and incompatibility with democracy or Christianity, but offers no cohesive argument on the subprime crisis or bailout. The thesis on social consequences is credible though familiar to European viewers.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/capitalism-a-love-story-1)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2009. Festival review. 

Moore delivers another entertaining rallying cry against corporate and political injustice, effectively summarizing Wall Street greed and transgressions under Bush while defending socialism. The film is overly optimistic about Obama and relies on familiar stunts and illustrative cases.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/venice/capitalism-a-love-story/5005301.article)

## IndieWire — Eric Kohn

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 14 September 2009. Festival review. 

The review describes the film as simplistically charming but ultimately not adding up, critiquing its approach to the financial crisis subject.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/review-simplistically-charming-capitalism-doesnt-quite-add-up-2-246534/)

## Sight and Sound — Tony Rayns

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 

Moore indicts capitalism as a betrayal of FDR’s Second Bill of Rights and targets the sub-prime American working class with emotional stunts and personal stories. The film lacks analytic rigour and historical perspective, functioning more as didactic agit-prop than investigation.

[Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/5315)

## Slant Magazine — Lauren Wissot

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 22 September 2009. 

The critic finds the film an unfocused diatribe that relies on slick tricks rather than deep thinking, turning complex issues into something simplistic like 'Capitalism for Dummies' and failing to dig deeply despite covering a lot of ground.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/capitalism-a-love-story/)

## The Telegraph

Rating ***. 25 February 2010. 

Moore's most personal film yet effectively shows small-scale stories of victims but stumbles on the big picture and remedy. It confirms him as a provocative entertainer who fails to sustain his argument.

[Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/7314854/Capitalism-A-Love-Story-review.html)

## Collider — Monika Bartyzel

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 15 September 2009. Festival review. 

The film is an entertaining but infuriating look at capitalism and the economic crisis, delivered with classic Moore style and spectacle. Its value lies in the timely message that will anger and resonate with audiences struggling with the fallout, rather than in its moviemaking.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/michael-moores-capitalism-a-love-story-review/)

## Eye for Film — Val Kermode

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2009. Festival review. 

The critic calls it Moore's most entertaining film yet for its skillful mix of humor, editing, and historical context around the financial crisis and FDR-era ideals. Some familiar Moore techniques feel overused and the film preaches mainly to the converted.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/capitalism-a-love-story-film-review-by-val-kermode)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 14 September 2009. Festival review. 

The critic describes Moore rejecting capitalism outright as an evil system that subverts democracy in favor of the wealthy few. Moore is praised as a shrewd filmmaker who taps public outrage through humor and personal stories, though the analysis is seen as open to debate.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/moores-capitalism-not-love-story-call-revolt-7112/)

## Den of Geek — Michael Leader

Rating 2/5. 30 June 2010. 

The critic finds the film manipulative and indulgent, with its sledgehammer style and stunts overshadowing any insight into the financial crisis. He criticizes Moore's familiar targets, cheap melodrama and outdated optimism about Obama.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/capitalism-a-love-story-dvd-review/)

## The Skinny — Philip Concannon

Rating 2/5. 23 February 2010. 

The critic views the film as another sloppy Michael Moore effort that relies on sarcasm, clumsy links and emotional manipulation rather than fresh analysis. He notes it feels like old news after a year of coverage on the banking collapse.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/capitalism-a-love-story)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/capitalism-a-love-story.md