Starring: Morgan Spurlock
Director: Morgan Spurlock
DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
Running Time: 93 min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Distributor: The Weinstein Company

- - -

Review by Jeremy Welsch

- - -

In 2003 Morgan Spurlock did a little experiment. For 30 days he ate only food served at McDonald’s to test the human body’s adaptability to an all-fast food diet. The experiment was filmed and became the Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me. In addition to being a funny but grim commentary on our country’s state of overindulgence, it accomplished a couple of other things along the way. On a personal note, I stopped eating fast food completely for almost two years after seeing it. I wouldn’t so much as slow down near a fast food chain after watching Spurlock binge and purge his way to infamy. More importantly, and although they’d never admit it in a million years, the McDonald’s Corporation actually removed the“Super Size” option from their menu and started making more health conscious options available. Not bad for one guy and a camera. Of course it didn’t really prove much other than eating 5,000 calories a day of anything and without exercise will make you fat and lethargic, but it goes a long way to prove that David still has a chance against Goliath when he sets him mind to it.

Aside from parlaying the success of Super Size Me into a similar, yet successful reality TV show, Spurlock hasn’t done much else recently. So when word came down of his obviously titled follow up, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, I was intrigued. I mean, this is the guy who single-handedly went up against the largest fast food corporation in the world, and on some levels, actually won.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? begins as Spurlock and his wife are expecting their first child. He gets the idea that before he brings another life into the world, he must make it a better place by locating one of its biggest threats. What he plans to do if and when he locates this threat is never really mentioned. Without getting too picky, that’s really the basis of my problem with the whole failed experiment.

The investigation is wasted as we watch him go to countries like Egypt, Israel, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco searching schools, towns, army bases and local malls asking the same question of everyone he meets: “Where is Osama Bin Laden?” As if the entire last seven years worth of military intelligence, lives and money have been wasted because we somehow overlooked the possibility that all we had to do this whole time was just ask some townspeople? My personal politics aside, his presumption is offensive. Even more annoying are the responses he gets – a mixture of “I don’t know”, “I don’t care”, or “Pakistan”. And off he goes.

At the time of receipt of this DVD for review, I hadn’t heard anything on the news along the lines that he, or anyone else for that matter, had actually found Osama Bin Laden so my saying that he didn’t locate the man shouldn’t be considered a spoiler. The more I watched, the more I wondered if he ever had any intention of finding him at all. Or if he had any kind of plans in place in the event that he did. In fact, if he actually thought he could succeed where the rest of the world had failed, that’s pretty audacious. But if not, then why go through all this in the first place? To show us there are people from all walks of life who have the same fears that we Americans have? To show us there are people outside of the United States who share the same views on oppression? To let everyone know that we still haven’t found Bin Laden? Some would argue that I am missing the point; that the intent wasn’t to necessarily find Osama Bin Laden, but to show us that we aren’t so different after all. I suppose there is some merit to be found in that. I guess I just liked it better the first time I saw it when it was the music video for We Are the World.

The bottom line is that regardless of his intentions, Spurlock never really tells us anything anyone with an ounce of rationality didn’t already know. And he spends a hell of a lot more time and effort than it’s worth getting there. His simplistic style worked perfectly against the fast food industry, but for an undertaking of this magnitude it needed to have a lot more bite. The whole thing just felt way too gimmicky – both in concept and in style.

The only thing missing was having everyone he talked to during his travels assemble together on a hilltop singing about how they’d like to buy the world a Coke. As long as they didn’t drink them for 30 days, they’d be in pretty good shape.

Film Rating: * out of ****

Official [ Movie Site ]

x

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email This

Hits: 405

Comments (1)

A MUST SEE

This is a great movie. Just watched. ALL AMERICANS SHOULD WATCH THIS MOVIE.

ScreenwritingforHollywood , September 11, 2008 | url

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

Add Comment Preview