Troopers in Moore film taken by surprise.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 7/03/04): A headline on Page D4 on Friday above a story about the Michael Moore movie `Fahrenheit 9/11' contained an error. The owner of the Oregon Coast Shell Museum near Yachats did not appear in the story.

FLORENCE - Oregon State Police trooper Andy Kenyon said Thursday that he had no idea he was going to be part of an explosive new film when he gave an interview to a production company in February.

But he would have done it even had he known the controversial filmmaker behind it: Michael Moore.

Kenyon and fellow trooper Josh Brooks were unwitting subjects in "Fahrenheit 9/11," Moore's searingly critical assessment of President Bush and the war on terrorism.

The movie's focus on Bush makes it a political football for all sides to kick around - in other words, just the kind of thing that a department dependent on bipartisan funding, like the state police, wants desperately to avoid.

But the production company that approached the troopers told them only that their input was wanted for a "documentary on homeland security," Kenyon said.

The department was forced to lay off 129 troopers last year, about 30 percent of the force and the first layoffs in its 73-year history, before hiring many back several months later.

In the movie, the troopers explain how cutbacks hurt the agency's coverage of the coast: Brooks is shown in uniform with the ocean behind him, explaining that two troopers aren't enough for 50 miles of coastline; Kenyon does paperwork while off duty, illustrating that police no longer have time for routine work while on the job.

Kenyon, a 33-year-old who lives in the Florence area, said he was shocked when the production company told him - two days before the opening - that he was in a Moore film. His concern was how the state police are portrayed, and he was impressed with the result.

"Whether you're against Bush or for Bush, it's not a bad idea to go and see the movie," Kenyon said.

Since its release one week ago, the movie has grossed about $40 million, doubling the previous record for documentaries set by "Bowling for Columbine," another Moore film.

The troopers' roles surprised many in the department, Lt. Dale Rutledge said.

Rutledge was also satisfied with the portrayal of his department, but he would offer no opinion on what he said Moore seemed to suggest - that Bush's expensive anti-terrorism campaign is the reason the state police had to cut staff.

If supervisors had known more about the context for the troopers' interviews, they "would have wanted some oversight over what was going to happen," Rutledge said. "We try to be apolitical."

Victoria Lessin, a supervising producer with the company hired to do the interviews, would not say whether she knew Moore planned to use the troopers' interviews in his movie.

"We asked for permission to do an on-camera interview of troopers Kenyon and Brooks for a documentary looking at homeland security," Lessin said, in an e-mailed statement. "They each signed personal releases giving us permission to use their interviews in the motion picture."

The local faces and places in "Fahrenheit 9/11" surprised moviegoer Jim Adler, 58, of the Yachats area.

"My first response seeing the shell shop was my jaw dropped to the next row," Adler said, referring to a shot of the Oregon Coast Shell Museum, near Yachats. "All of a sudden this national thing was made very local."

The movie gave Adler what he expected - "suspicion, innu- endo, distorted facts," he said - but he came away discouraged. "I wanted to get out of the finger-pointing," Adler said.

Not everyone has found the movie so engrossing, however.

Pam Wedekind, owner of the shell museum, has yet to see "Fahrenheit 9/11," and to assess whether her business is portrayed favorably.

"It really doesn't make too much difference either way," she said. "I don't think it's going to make much of an impact on the business that we do."