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Time and world events haven't been that kind to Michael Moore's only attempt (thus far) at (deliberate) fiction. It probably no longer would seem amusing seeing films about any Americans knowing invading other countries, and the concept of the executive branch searching desperately for anyone we can brand as an enemy hits just a little too close to reality than what Moore probably intended (usually cut from TV airings even before It happened is Rip Torn's General Panzer protesting we can't go after international terrorists because they'd seem insignificant compared to the alien invasion he thought would make a better threat to national security). And perhaps having a potential nuclear holocaust isn't the best way to climax your picture no matter how much you might be arguing against war.
And yet...
Seen shorn of Moore's delusional contexts, the satire works quite well, likely because it often goes so far over the top it comes down on the other side ("How do you think they clean all those windows (in downtown Toronto)?" "Windex, dummy."). Somehow there's something relatable about Candy's Sheriff Boomer (his next-to-last role) even if he's loopy in his own right, probably that he and his associates are searching for a way to make something of themselves again after they've all been laid off. As such, you have to love how they go so far over the top to make this possible that it becomes very amusing (my favorite being their storming and subsequent unintended shutdown of the first Canadian dam--clearly the same dam seen earlier in the film on our side of the border--they come across). And the take on the media and how they tell us nothing important in anything and seem to gullibly believe anything that seems big ("Congress is asking to investigate why the Canadians maintain a threatening lead in Zamboni production.") will at least be timeless.
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