There is room for a tough, journalistic documentary presented by someone who really did want to know the answer. But this isn't it.
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:97
Fresh:36
Rotten:61
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: Morgan Sprulock's doc offers occasional insights but gets bogged down by the director/subject's gimmicky schtick.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for some strong language.
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
Theatrical Release:09-05-2008
Synopsis: Documentarian Morgan Spurlock rocketed to fame after daring to take on the fast food industry in the entertaining and much-lauded SUPERSIZE ME. For his follow-up, Spurlock wades back into... Documentarian Morgan Spurlock rocketed to fame after daring to take on the fast food industry in the entertaining and much-lauded SUPERSIZE ME. For his follow-up, Spurlock wades back into controversial waters, and attempts something even more dangerous than a month of eating Big Macs: he decides to hunt down the globe's foremost terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. When the film opens, Spurlock has just learned that his wife, Alex, is pregnant. Using this news as a springboard, he decides he must hunt down the "world's most dangerous man" in order to guarantee the safety of his new child. Thus begins Spurlock's journey into some of the most wartorn and perilous places on the globe: Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. Spurlock travels from country to country, popping into mosques, fundamentalist Muslim schools, shantytowns, army bases, the Gaza strip, and the local mall, asking everyone along the way if they might know where he can find Osama. The provocative question never fails to elicit an interesting response, and Spurlock uses it to open up a dialogue about the people's feelings and attitudes toward America and the war on terror. Throughout the film, Spurlock comes across as one of the most genial fellows you could ever meet, and his good-natured charm goes a long way in getting interviews with people who might otherwise become hostile when smirkingly asked, "Where's Osama?" Some viewers might find fault with Spurlock's rather gimmicky, stunt man techniques, but others might enjoy his light approach to such a complex and heavy issue. While the film will undoubtedly spark a few heated debates, one thing is for certain: Spurlock does nice job of removing some of the mystery that surrounds the Middle East. He creates a very human portrait of the people, and reminds us that, at the end of the day, we are perhaps not so different. [More]
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Screenwriter: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock
Producer: Jeremy Chilnick, Stacey Offman, Morgan Spurlock
Composer: Jon Spurney
Studio: Weinstein Company
Reviews for Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
After sitting down with lots of friendly people everywhere he goes, and a few nasty extremists, Spurlock is optimistic. He finds friendship and some real laughs, but the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks eludes him.
Entertaining documentary that subtly delivers an important message, while making some astute observations about American foreign policy.
A frustratingly soft documentary that would sooner teach the world to sing than get to the bottom of the Bin Laden enigma.
With about as much documentary credibility as Borat, Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? combines low comedy, high production values and the Middle East for what will surely be a hit, even as it delivers nothing new.
Spurlock is good company: a more likable, less abrasive, less manipulative Michael Moore.
At its best, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? offers a simplistic look at a complicated problem. At its worst, it provides the same.
Spurlock spends so much time on himself he forgets to find anything actually worth making a movie about.
The aim of Spurlock's mission is less a matter of actually finding the man than exploring the everyday beliefs and attitudes of Muslims around the globe.
So shallow and silly that it makes reading The Nation seem like the deepest kind of bliss.
This film finds him becoming more sentimental, perhaps because of his new domesticity, but the film is still consistently entertaining.
a film that preaches to the choir. It tries to say too many things at times, but ultimately has a good message.
Complicated global problems require something a bit more challenging than this.
Spurlock's second non-fiction effort (it rankles to label it documentary) is nothing but a boondoggle throughout the Middle East with high production values and no fresh insight.
Documentary humorist Morgan Spurlock explores the lighter side of international terrorism in Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?
Sadly, the subject matter might not make this the kind of movie that anyone would rush out to see, but it's a successful effort at informing while entertaining.
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August 25, 2008:
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July 30, 2008:
Spurlock draws some weird paternal parallels, subconscious or not, between Osama as the fugitive founding father of Al Qaeda, and his own possibly wayward, pre-partum depression, stressed situation as an imminently expectant, first time fugitive dad-to-be ![]()
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May 09, 2008:
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February 09, 2008:
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