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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: 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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    41 - 60 (sorted by date)
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    [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
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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

    Spurlock applies his brand of humorous social activism to the War on Terror, and the results are funny and humanist.

    Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
    04/18/08
    Sean Means
    Sean Means
    Salt Lake Tribune
     
     
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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
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