'Fahrenheit' shakes up Utahns

Ronni McDonough of Salt Lake City could hardly hold back the tears as she described what was for her the most compelling scene in the controversial new movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."

She was still shaken up after a late afternoon screening Monday over a moment in the Michael Moore documentary when the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq visits the White House. The mother breaks down herself over the grief of losing her son.

"I didn't expect the movie to make me cry. I expected it to make me laugh," said McDonough, a Democrat who had been looking forward to a "light-hearted" poke at President Bush.

Members of the Barlow family of Salt Lake City stood outside the theater, discussing what they'd just seen. Much of Moore's material, they said, was familiar to them from newspaper and television accounts of the war on terrorism.

But it's the way the material — interviews, news clips and war footage accompanied by Moore's often sarcastic commentary — is presented that is making the award-winning movie a rallying point for liberals and a target of conservatives.

"After seeing that, I don't understand how people can be so duped . . . and still support the war and its leader," Don Barlow, a retired high school administrator, said.

Will the movie change the minds of Bush supporters?

"It will if they see it," Barlow said.

Mary Kawakami of American Fork, however, said she wasn't ready to jump to conclusions based on what she described as a "very one-sided film." Kawakami, 90, said it was "disrespectful to the president to such an extent it didn't change my mind at all."

But Kawakami, who saw the movie with her husband and two daughters, was ready to hear what others thought. The family attended a gathering to discuss the film at a restaurant next to the theater, hosted by the publishers of Catalyst magazine.

Nearly 50 people gathered at the restaurant, Mr. Z's. John DeJong, associate publisher of the magazine, said the intent was not "preaching to the choir. We'll preach to a bunch of missionaries" who'll oppose the president in the upcoming election.

Activists around the country are using the draw of the film to promote candidates and causes, including voter registration. Susan Vogel of CodePink in Salt Lake City said her organization registered more than 30 voters outside a showing of the movie Friday.