The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Cine-provocateur Morgan Spurlock makes low-budget documentaries that get noticed — and, more important, get people talking. Most famous for his Oscar-nominated, McDonalds-bashing Super Size Me, Spurlock tackles the even more formidable world of Hollywood itself in The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. His new film looks at product placement in the movies. Now known as “brand integration,” the practice of incorporating plugs for brand-name products represents huge money for Hollywood. Both attracted and repelled by this brazen pimping, Spurlock made a movie on the subject — one entirely paid for by advertisers who were the subject of the film itself.

Greatest follows the likeable Spurlock as he first learns how and who to approach for sponsorship, then records his first pitches (all resounding duds). Eventually some companies sign on, and the audience learns the “rules” of product placement. This deliberately transparent movie then becomes quite amusing as products and logos start cropping up unexpectedly while Spurlock continues his quest to amass $1.5 million in funding. Possibly his best gag is a faked sequence where we see him allegedly promoting the finished movie on a talk show (even though he’s still making it).

While not riveting, Greatest will engage both movie fans and anyone with an interest in the shameless world of advertising.

Rating: ***