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Movies / On DVD / Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

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Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (2008)

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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

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Reviews for Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Uh, Pakistan. Roll credits.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
04/18/08
Mark Rahner
Mark Rahner
Seattle Times

[Spurlock's] work here leans closer to Tyra Banks wearing her fat suit than anything directed by Errol Morris or even Michael Moore.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
04/18/08
Peter Hartlaub
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle

A documentary just as childish as the title suggests.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
04/18/08
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

The director of Super Size Me

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
04/18/08
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

He's a decent fellow on a worthy quest, but despite the willingness to make a fool or, indeed, a target of himself, he never seems truly serious.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
04/18/08
Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

While some of the interviews are interesting, and the scenery beautiful, eventually the juvenile jokes overwhelm any real point that Spurlock is trying to make.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
04/18/08
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Armed with little more than a great title and limitless confidence, documentarian Morgan Spurlock sets off in search of the world's biggest bad guy. He comes up empty in more ways than one.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/18/08
Elizabeth Weitzman
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News

Just by asking questions, Spurlock creates the opportunity for dialogue, and the responses are heartening in their diversity.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
04/18/08
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

a film that preaches to the choir. It tries to say too many things at times, but ultimately has a good message.

Full Review Source: Film School Rejects | comment Comment
04/18/08
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
Film School Rejects

Spurlock's deliberately facile method might make his movie palatable to moviegoers resistant to serious documentaries that include actual information.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
04/18/08
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

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.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
04/18/08
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Although Osama wraps up a bit too quickly, and ends a bit too obviously, the thing Spurlock finds is, for the most part, these people resemble us.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
04/18/08
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

At its most illuminating, Morgan Spurlock's compelling if self-indulgent travelogue investigation Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? reminds us that a livelihood isn't just 'America's No. 1 issue' as CNN reminds us.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
04/18/08
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

Spurlock clearly had a bug up his you-know-what to out the fast food industry with Super Size Me, but Osama feels far less passionate.

Full Review Source: ReelzChannel.com | comment Comment
04/18/08
Jeff Otto
Jeff Otto
ReelzChannel.com

Morgan Spurlock is a jokester politico in the Michael Moore vein, and his latest documentary is a low concept posing as a high concept.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
04/18/08
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

Spurlock and his team of collaborators never find the movie amid all their material. If he's a questionable journalist and a poor detective, he's an even more woeful filmmaker.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/18/08
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

A come-on in search of a movie, Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | comment Comment
04/18/08
Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun

Kudos to Spurlock for going into enemy territory and coming back with the message that there really is no enemy territory.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
04/18/08
Josh Rosenblatt
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle

A nearly note-perfect anthem for virtually everything about American policy it seeks to critique.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/18/08
Ray Greene
Ray Greene
Boxoffice Magazine

It’s impossible to disagree with much of what he [Spurlock] says...but it’s also impossible to learn anything about war, terrorism, religion, oil, democracy or any of the other topics a less glib, less self-absorbed filmmaker might want to tackle.

comment Comment
04/18/08
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Latest News for Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

August 25, 2008: RT on DVD: Watch Uwe Boll Box Critic, Heroes Season Two Clips
It's a good week to catch up on your favorite shows before the new TV season begins (Heroes Season Two) and a good week to satisfy your curiosity for a certain guilty pleasure... More...

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 Opens in new window
More...

May 09, 2008: RT Interview: Morgan Spurlock on the Personal, the Political and Osama bin Laden
The documentarian comes over all Kandahar as we talk his latest, Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?. More...

February 09, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

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