'Where To Invade Next' Trailer: Michael Moore Is America's Secret Weapon

Michael Moore's first film in six years comes out this month. The documentarian's last two features, Capitalism: A Love Story and Sicko, didn't leave as much of an impression as Fahrenheit: 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine did. Will Where to Invade Next be Moore's next film to strike a chord with the American public?

After the jump, watch the Where to Invade Next trailer.

The film opens with Moore "meeting" with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pleading with him to travel the world and find a country they can invade next. The documentary follows Moore as he explores the social programs and policies in other countries — and some of the policies and programs he discovers are quite astonishing.

Here's the Where to Invade Next trailer (source: Yahoo! Movies):

As Moore says in the trailer, he's become an optimist, and Where to Invade Next is actually pretty optimistic. After the documentary premiered to mostly positive reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, though, the director struggled with the MPAA to get a PG-13 rating, which unfortunately didn't pan out. It's actually a "nice" Michael Moore film, and the reasons why it got the R-rating are fairly silly. Where to Invade Next lacks the sharp wit found in the director's previous work, but the director certainly gets across his point about the state of the American Dream.

Here's the TIFF description:

Michael Moore understands the art of provocation. From Roger & Me to Bowling for Columbine to Fahrenheit 9/??11, he's been ahead of the cultural curve with films that galvanized audiences and escalated box-office records.

Now, six years since his last film and with another US election around the corner, he delivers a fresh surprise that feels current yet perfectly timeless. Filming abroad without drawing attention from American media, Moore reunites his A-team, including producers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (directors of the Oscar-nominated Trouble the Water), and brings us a funny and provocative work that's guaranteed to stir up conversation.

The United States' long history of invading countries and pushing agendas has produced results that are, to say the least, mixed. What if the US could do a better job at invading? That's the premise for this film, which sends Moore on an epic journey.

Americans may be known as talkers, but Moore actually listens and he's a magnet for memorable characters. Their dialogues are revelatory, poignant, and hilarious. The film builds momentum toward a culmination that resonates with hard-earned hope.

In the break since his previous film, 2009's Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore has nurtured his cinematic passions as co-founder of the Traverse City Film Festival and a champion of other directors. Whatever else he's been doing in that time, it has had a restorative effect on his filmmaking. Where to Invade Next conveys a sense that he's been saving up his energies to create something really special. Rather than following the predictable motions of partisan politics, he reframes the conversation around hot-button issues in a highly entertaining and subversive way.

Where To Invade Next opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 23rd and expands nationwide on January 15, 2016.