WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE

Director: Robert Greenwald
Stars: Lee Scott (President/CEO of Wal-mart), and a whole bunch of ticked-off people
Year: 2005
Rating: N/R

The first documentary reviewed for this blog takes a look at the biggest, most powerful, and evidently most insidious company ever run. Known for its gigantic stores, super-low ("unbeatable") prices and huge variety of stock from food to clothing to electronics to home and auto supplies and more, director Robert Greenwald throws a glaring and extremely opinionated light on the mega-giant retailer. And Greenwald's strong opinions seem justified, as this film only emphasizes and even expands upon all the bad things that have been rumored about the company for years.

First and most obvious: Wal-mart drives smaller (mom and pop stores, especially) out of business, as the smaller companies just can't keep up with the amount of merchandise OR the low prices in their shops. The film opens with the Hunter family, who have owned the the H&H Hardware store for generations - who, thanks to Wal-mart, had to shutter their store for good. It's just one example; the film throws more than a few at you, as well as some startling statistics about the retail giant's ability to land local government subsidies in order to build their stores, when the small business owner can't ... then renege on their agreement and leave the store they've built empty, moving sometimes only just across the county line to instead open their store there and NOT have to pay the local government (who gave them funds in the first place) back for their allegiance. In other words, they move into an area promising to bring jobs and money to that city or county's local economy - and it all just never happens.

But then there are also the employees that Wal-mart is reneging on; nowhere here do you see those bright, shining and smiling faces featured on commercial after commercial. For this documentary, past and present employees alike (though you can bet the "present" ones weren't working there for long, once this film came out) - including former upper management - cite incident after incident regarding Wal-mart's complete and uncaring attitude toward their own workers. Attitude that's reflected in low wages, lack of benefits, discrimination against minorities and women, intimidation, and the total squashing of anything even resembling unionization. Even as a pair of examples are shown from Germany, where Wal-mart legally had no choice BUT to accept that their workers had to be unionized, the workers in that country seem happier and live much better lives ... even as one woman expresses her wonderment about why things aren't the same for Wal-mart employees in the USA.

Then there are all the cheap toys and clothing Wal-mart carries - made in China by young laborers who work up to sixteen hours a day for something like seventeen cents an hour, forced to live in dormitories that are dirty and cramped, the aisles between the bunk beds barely wide enough for the thinnest of people ... even as Wal-mart deducts rent and utilities out of their paychecks for the "privilege" of living in these abominable conditions (oh, and if you choose to not live in the dorms, like one woman did? Well, good old Wal-mart will only charge you the rent - not the utilities). The film is probably at its most powerful here; I know I will never again handle a garment or toy in Wal-mart (if/when I ever do go back into one again) without thinking of this section of the film.

There's more - and it's all intertwined with archive footage of Wal-mart President and CEO, Lee Scott, lying and propagating all the crap about how loyal his company is to the consumer, its employees, and even the environment (this last one is even covered, in a way that shows Wal-mart couldn't give a damn about the environment). He's the ringmaster of a very nasty circus; one hit by lawsuit after lawsuit for violating federal laws regarding everything from wages to environmental issues and beyond.

This isn't a polished film, by any means, and it certainly present a one-sided viewpoint - but that viewpoint has more than enough evidence, statistics, and court-documented cases to back up what's said ... and after watching this documentary, I would dare anyone to ever look into the face of a Wal-mart employee again and NOT remember some of the issues brought up here. ***1/2 - Reel Cool-Reel Awesome