Roger & Me is Michael Moore’s 1989 documentary about General Motors’ plant closings in Flint, Michigan.
Moore wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the film, his feature directorial debut. It follows his attempts to meet GM chairman and chief executive Roger B. Smith while documenting the economic and social consequences of layoffs in Moore’s hometown.
The film contrasts GM’s corporate decisions with the experiences of displaced workers and other Flint residents. It uses interviews, observational footage, satire, and dark humor rather than presenting a conventional industrial-history documentary. Moore began developing the project after returning to Flint during the city’s deindustrialization crisis.
The title refers to Moore’s repeated efforts to speak with Roger Smith. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 1989 and was later selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry in 2013. Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, and Bowling for Columbine are later Moore documentaries on different subjects.