'Fahrenheit 9/11' (R) (out of four)

Critics of filmmaker Michael Moore – and there are many – are having a field day with his latest movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11." But what's all the hype about?

It's an unflattering portrait of President George W. Bush. In one scene, using a chirpy song, "Vacation," from pop group The Go-Go's, Moore shows the president within his first days of office taking a golf vacation and relaxing on his Texas ranch.

Moore offers up real video that backs up his claims, but it's all depending on how you want to look at it. Should you see it through the lens of Moore? Or watch it with your own critical eye?

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Preview: 'Fahrenheit 9/11'

He presents firm facts (distributors of the film said they went to great detail to make sure each fact was checked and rechecked). Moore opens his film with the presidential election in 2000 and shows major news networks calling Gore the projected winner, but in a twist and all because of a little more than 500 votes in Florida, the Fox News Channel reports that Bush won the state and therefore the election.

Then Moore makes the statement that the call to report the victory was made by Bush's first cousin, who was a decision maker in the newsroom of Fox News Channel.

His film is filled with conspiracy theories. He sets up one storyline that shows evidence that the Bush family and the bin Ladens are linked through business partnerships. Moore cites George Bush Sr. and his business interests, rubbing elbows with the Saudis on a visit to their country while representing a private firm. But the filmmaker concludes that with his son in the White House, this hobnobbing may be creating a bit of a gray area.

Moore makes the assertion that the Bushes and their constituents are somehow profiting from the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. He points out that the president failed to react the day the disaster happened, instead staying at a elementary school where he read to youngsters, because he had no one to advise him in what to do.

A poignant moment comes from the story of a Flint, Mich., woman. Moore returns to his hometown and finds many stories in the depressed Midwest city. She's a hard-working, patriotic American who stands behind her president and her government – that is, until something happens to make her disillusioned. She and soldiers interviewed in Iraq show the real faces and feelings of people directly affected by the Iraq war.

There are many links that Moore presents that may make you question what is going on currently in the White House and who and what you should believe and not believe.

Moore's strength lies in his ability to exercise free speech and not be concerned with his detractors. He presents his footage, makes his statements in voiceover and then gives the moviegoer time to take it in. You see less of Moore than in his previous films, by the way.

"Some people call you the elite; I call you my base," says George W. Bush, dressed in a tuxedo and addressing a group at a Washington dinner.

Political propaganda or free speech, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is an interesting study of what goes on behind the scenes of one of the world's most powerful families and the power players that survive in their world.