Panida Theater showing Moore's 'Where to Invade Next'

“Where to Invade Next” is a comedy/documentary about a global quest for new ideas for America directed by Michael Moore. The film, in the style of a travelogue, has Moore spending time in various countries like Finland, Italy, France, Portugal and Tunisia. While in those areas, he explores those countries’ alternative methods of dealing with social and economic ills we experience here in the United States.

Shucking his usual sarcasm and rediscovering his funny bone, Moore happily treks far and wide for quality-of-life ideas to take back to the U.S. He’s made his most enjoyable film in years and also his most inspiring, the solution to prevailing global doom and gloom.

Moore visits countries that each seem to have found a better or more humane way than America of delivering education, nutrition, employment, drug control, justice, women’s rights and many other social benefits. In Italy, he marvels at happy workers who enjoy holidays and paid time off that North Americans only dream about. In France, he finds schools where gourmet meals are served even in blue-collar neighborhoods. In Germany, even a humble pencil factory can turn a profit while paying big wages and employers are penalized if they email their staff after hours or on weekends in contrast to our taking advantage of employees having their emails delivered to their phones.

Fueled more by Moore’s optimism than his outrage, this film makes a tonal shift from his more recent films like his takedown of America’s health care system this one is less bitter and uses comedy less as a critical sledgehammer and more as a lighthearted mood-setter.

At every stop, Moore stages a tongue-in-cheek “invasion” ceremony, where he presents a furled U.S. flag to someone whose good idea he is stealing to take back to America. The amused locals are very much in on the gag. Moore candidly admits he’s only looking for good news in countries where not every day is a sunny one but he does include reminders of national ills. And he brings it all back home with a brilliant ending that suggests that maybe all these great “foreign” ideas aren’t so foreign after all. “Where to Invade Next” plays in the Panida Little Theatre on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. Tickets available online or at the door. www.panida.org

Don’t forget “Papa: Hemingway in Cuba” continues its run this week. Audiences at the premiere praised the film and enjoyed this historical look back through European paced style of directing. The rare glimpse into Cuba and Hemingway’s home there was of particular interest as were some of the great lines spoken by Hemingway himself.

“Papa: Hemingway in Cuba” plays May 5, 7:30 p.m.; May 7, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; May 8, 3:30 p.m. “Matinee with Mimosas;” May 10, 6:30 p.m.; May 11, 1:30 p.m.; May 14 1:30 p.m.