Oh the irony of a Hollywood film being critical of capitalism. A multi-million dollar production that preaches about the evils of a market economy, condemning the fat-cat perched high on their gold throne, counting profits while the rest of the world plunges into financial decay. Can someone please hand the maker(s) of Capitalism: A Love Story a mirror?

Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly agree that capitalism is not all it’s cracked up to be, and Michael Moore’s latest documentary sure as hell gets that point across. It’s exactly the kind of film socialist Karl Marx could have used over a century ago, as not only is it a far more accessible critical analysis of the capitalist system than his book Das Kapital, it’s also highly persuasive. For just over two hours, Moore relentlessly yanks at our heartstrings, tickles our funny bone and makes us feel just as angry about the state of the Western world as he oh-so clearly does.

In lieu of a plot summary, here are a few things Moore wants us to take from Capitalism:

1. Armed gunmen don’t rob everyday people, ball point pens and dotted lines do.
2. Bank robbers are just taking back what was theirs in the first place.
3. The American Dream is a money-making scam invented by the rich, to feed off the hopes of the poor.
4. Many corporations take out life insurance policies on their workers — often without them even knowing — so they will actually profit if they die. (This was truly alarming.)
5. No one really knows what financial derivatives are, or at least know how to succinctly define it. And that’s exactly the way Wall Street want to keep it.
6. Even Moore has a ‘Hope-crush’ on President Obama.

Given the sheer scope of the subject at hand, Capitalism is easily Moore’s most ambitious project to date. Consequently, it’s also his least focused. As he bounces from point to point, you’ll struggle to see a discernible structure to his argument, despite the fact that it mostly appears relevant in context. His single greatest weapon in making his argument appear cohesive is the editing room, as the sublime juxtaposition of shots — such as in the opening scene where he splices together shots of the crumbling Roman Empire with images of new America — speaks volumes.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but Moore’s vocabulary is still lacking one key word; objectivity. While there are a number of  obvious pros to capitalism, don’t expect Moore to point them out (he does, however, have good things to say about democracy). Nor expect him to make extensive comparisons with other political systems  such as socialism, which has all of two minutes in the spotlight.  Ultimately, his message is plain and simple; capitalism is pure EVIL.

But at the end of the day, we’re the dopes paying $14.50 for a ticket stub to get that message. Capitalism has already made $12 million (US) in American box office sales alone, and if you add together the gross revenue of all of Moore’s films so far, the sum is close to $350 million. Just imagine how many goofy baseball caps he could buy with that amount.

Yes, Capitalism is a provocative, well argued documentary. Yes, the message here is worth disseminating. But let’s not forget the fact that Moore, and everyone else involved in the production of the film, are capitalising on being critical of capitalism. For the sake of empowering his argument, would it have really cost Moore his livelihood to release this film for free on the internet? Or at least have the profits go to a charity for the disenfranchised? I doubt it.

Follow the author Anders Wotzke on Twitter.