Editing Bowling for Columbine (section)

===Critical reception===
The film earned positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]], it holds a 95% approval rating based on 173 reviews, with an average rating of 8.20/10. The consensus states, "Though it may not always convince, ''Bowling for Columbine'' asks important questions and provokes thought."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bowling for Columbine (2002) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bowling_for_columbine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820000433/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bowling_for_columbine |archive-date=August 20, 2021 |access-date=September 13, 2021 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]]}}</ref> Another score aggregator, [[Metacritic]], which assigns a weighted average rating in the 0–100 range based on reviews from top mainstream critics, calculated a score of 72 based on 32 reviews, signifying 'generally favorable reviews'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bowling for Columbine Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bowling-for-columbine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903093050/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/bowling-for-columbine |archive-date=September 3, 2018 |access-date=August 1, 2019 |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]}}</ref>

Michael Wilmington of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' wrote, "It's unnerving, stimulating, likely to provoke anger and sorrow on both political sides&mdash;and, above all, it's extremely funny."<ref>[http://www.bowlingforcolumbine.com/reviews/2002-10-18-metromix.php Bowling for Columbine : Reviews & Acclaim : Articles & Press<!-- Bot generated title -->]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021206171943/http://www.bowlingforcolumbine.com/reviews/2002-10-18-metromix.php |date=December 6, 2002  }}</ref> A.O. Scott of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "The slippery logic, tendentious grandstanding, and outright [[Demagogy|demagoguery]] on display in ''Bowling for Columbine'' should be enough to give pause to its most ardent partisans, while its disquieting insights into the culture of violence in America should occasion sober reflection from those who would prefer to stop their ears."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=A.O. |date=2002-10-11 |title=Film Review: Bowling for Columbine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/11/movies/film-review-seeking-a-smoking-gun-in-us-violence.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612201820/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/11/movies/film-review-seeking-a-smoking-gun-in-us-violence.html |archive-date=2018-06-12 |access-date=2018-06-08 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

However, the film had its detractors as [[Desson Thomson]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' thought that the film lacked a coherent message, asking "A lot of this is amusing and somehow telling. There was a parody of this movie called 'Bowling for Midway', a conservative Utah family movie to counter Moore's movie, and this paralleled the Docudrama, '[[This Divided State]]'. But what does it all add up to?"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Desson |date=2002-10-18 |title=Moore Shoots Himself In the Foot |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/10/18/moore-shoots-himself-in-the-foot/d4ffedd4-378d-4544-a62a-29fac26e4658/ |access-date=2010-04-26 |work=[[The Washington Post]]}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>