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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: 96

Fresh: 36

Rotten:60

Average Rating: 5/10

Consensus: Morgan Sprulock's doc offers occasional insights but gets bogged down by the director/subject's gimmicky schtick.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some strong language.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Apr 18, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $264,438

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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Release:

Aug 26, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock sets out on his own to
  • find the world's most elusive fugitive, venturing hilariously into the unfamiliar
  • Middle East.
  • *2008 Theatrical Release
  • *Oscar-Nominated Morgan Spurlock- Super Size Me
  • Source: Genius Productions Inc.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

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    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    04/23/09
    Tom Meek
    Boston Phoenix

    There is room for a tough, journalistic documentary presented by someone who really did want to know the answer. But this isn't it.

    Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Peter Bradshaw
    Guardian [UK]
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch

    Complicated global problems require something a bit more challenging than this.

    Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Tom Charity
    CNN.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Morgan Spurlock is a living, breathing cautionary tale. Take a good, long look, kids: This is what happens when society validates really annoying people.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Jessica Reaves
    Chicago Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Spurlock's disarming, slightly goofy demeanor gets him out of situations that might mean trouble for anyone else. His films are always fun and even illuminating to watch.

    Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Jean Lowerison
    San Diego Metropolitan

    This film finds him becoming more sentimental, perhaps because of his new domesticity, but the film is still consistently entertaining.

    Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
    09/19/08
    Paul Byrnes
    Sydney Morning Herald

    What makes it all work is how honest and grounded Spurlock is.

    Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
    09/01/08
    MaryAnn Johanson
    Flick Filosopher

    Woefully small-scale, often misguided but never disingenuous.

    Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
    08/22/08
    Rob Humanick
    Projection Booth

    Morgan goes out into the big bad, wide world as the naive and innocent everyman, asking the question of the title, but actually posing more complex issues - which address the human condition.

    Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
    08/07/08
    Andrew L. Urban
    Urban Cinefile

    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.

    Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
    07/21/08
    Tim Basham
    Paste Magazine

    A superficial primer for people who aren't likely to go see it in the first place.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    06/27/08
    Jim Emerson
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Morgan Spurlock has crafted an entertaining, lighthearted look at the middle east.

    Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
    06/04/08
    Austin Kennedy
    Sin Magazine

    The film does offer a glimmer of hope that behind all the bellowing by politicians and thugs, there are millions of people in the Middle East who simply yearn for peace.

    Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
    05/16/08
    Peter Howell
    Toronto Star
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Spurlock approaches the state of the Middle East -- and therefore our world -- with an asinine every-dude-ness that isn't just simple-minded but wincingly self-absorbed.

    Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
    05/16/08
    Kevin Williamson
    Jam! Movies

    Where in the world is Morgan Spurlock's head? Occasionally, during this exasperating and goofy documentary, it seems squarely on his shoulders. Most of the time, however, it's firmly lodged up another part of his anatomy.

    Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
    05/16/08
    Jason McBride
    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A frustratingly soft documentary that would sooner teach the world to sing than get to the bottom of the Bin Laden enigma.

    Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
    05/09/08
    Damon Wise
    Empire Magazine

    Entertaining documentary that subtly delivers an important message, while making some astute observations about American foreign policy.

    Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
    05/08/08
    Matthew Turner
    ViewLondon

    Spurlock goes home in time for his son's birth, but if there's an end of violence and distrust possible in the Middle East, it is not yet visible.

    Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
    04/30/08
    Cynthia Fuchs
    PopMatters

    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

    Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
    04/24/08
    Prairie Miller
    NewsBlaze
     
     
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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 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...

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