YMMV / An American Carol

• Alternative Character Interpretation: While the film does make fun of liberals in a heavy handed way, can the film be viewed as portraying conservatives as being viciously pro-war with its anti-war equals anti-patriotism message to the point that conservatives come off just as cartoony as liberals?
• Anvilicious: To say that this movie is nothing but a neoconservative polemic would be an understatement. Many critics on both sides of the political spectrum felt that the hammering of the message got in the way of the jokes.
• Audience-Alienating Premise: The pro-war message does not exactly endear this movie towards those who do not agree with its politics, and the crude humor is a turn-off for many conservatives.
• Critical Dissonance: Critics, both liberal and conservative, were not too kind to the film upon its release. However, the film has found somewhat of an audience and defenders in the conservative populace. There are also people without much of a voice in politics who simply found the film funny.
• One-Scene Wonder: Jon Voight as George Washington. Widely regarded as the high point of the film.
• Poor Man's Substitute: Kevin Farley bears a very strong resemblance to his dearly departed brother Chris.
• Questionable Casting: If one put together a list of actors one would expect to see play General George Patton, Kelsey Grammer most likely would be well down the list.
• Strawman Has a Point: Even Michael Moore's fiercest critics were put off by this portrayal, noting that while many hate his methods and character, they have some level of respect for his views. In fact, much of Moore's criticism comes from people who agree with his core positions yet dislike the inaccuracies in his documentaries, including Nathan Rabin.^note As such, Rabin thought They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Given what a divisive figure he is even to those who fully agree with his views, a film parodying Michael Moore is a good idea in theory. But the result here skips over any of the common criticisms of his work and resorts to fat jokes and accusing him of "hating America" endlessly.

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