By Justin Fenton
Enquirer staff writer

NEWPORT - As the crowd filed out of Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 at the AMC Theatres at Newport on the Levee Sunday, most moviegoers agreed: The film reinforces what they already believe, merely wrapped up into a nice package.

"It was an extraordinarily strong, greatly done, wonderful film," said 60-year-old Margaret O'Kain, a professed anti-war demonstrator from University Heights. "A kid next to me said, 'I'm even more [angry] than I was before.'"

The film, which was shown in just a handful of area theaters, far exceeded industry projections to rake in an estimated $22 million over the weekend, according to the film's distributor, Lions Gate Films.

Fahrenheit 9/11 paints President Bush as a neglectful president who ignored terrorism warnings before Sept. 11, then stirred up fear of more attacks to win public support for the Iraq war.

It benefited from a flurry of praise and condemnation, starting just before the Cannes Film Festival, when Disney refused to let subsidiary Miramax release it because of its political content.

Expected to bring in $10 million by experts last week, the film was shown in just 868 theaters nationwide and only three in the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky area, but had a $25,115 per-screen average. Lions Gate says it smashed box-office records for a documentary.

Though specific takes at local theaters were not available, managers at the Showcase Cinemas in Western Hills, Kenwood Towne Centre and AMC Theatres Newport on the Levee all reported brisk crowds.

"It was definitely our No. 1 film," said AMC manager Brandon Ferguson.

Audiences spanned many demographics, though the Friday and Saturday night crowds were largely youthful. The crowds laughed, sighed, and scoffed throughout the movie, bursting into applause at the end.

Some moviegoers who agreed with the message had a problem with the film's delivery.

"I know what Moore's about, so it wasn't surprising that it was pretty manipulative," said Adnan Mir, 25, whose family drove from Akron to see it with him. "It's more sensationalist fodder for arguments against the war."

Even so, Mir's father, Ghulan, 57, said he learned from the documentary.

"It makes America's war machine look anti-humane," he said.

Could it motivate people to vote come November?

"Oh yes," said Carrie Krusi, 28, of Erlanger.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.