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

If this movie knows where he is, there'll be international headlines made, and the filmmakers will get that US$25 million (or more?) bounty that is placed on his head. Of course it will be silly to presume that this film can find the answers to the multi-million dollar question, or even come close to it, so just what was the intention?Morgan Spurlock isn't new to controversy, having burst onto the documentary scene with his real life gorging on MacDonald's for every meal in order to drive home the point that junk food really does junk your well being. So for this new film of his, it stems from his desire to seek out the world's #1 wanted man, and ask him just what floats his boat. He may be putting on his jester cap with his somewhat hilarious introduction, but looking at the preparation with vaccination and even attending some terrorism survival course, he's quite dead set in his mission to find that elusive man.Until of course you realize that he's hitting all the relative safe havens for the most part, before venturing into the more likely places in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But what he seeks to unearth is the Middle East's attitudes towards Americans, and it seems that the common consensus is that while they have nothing against the people, almost everyone that Spurlock chose to showcase, has issues with the foreign policies. And from interviews with the average Joes, they sure have issues with politics at home more than those that are from abroad. Spurlock also takes opportunity to slam the US foreign policy, and does so through a hilarious animated sequence involving Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty herself, in what would be a realistic case of sleeping with the wrong bedfellows.Bringing the camera from Morocco to Saudi Arabia, and interview people from both the state of Palestine and Israel, what he had presented were compelling arguments for and against, as well as plenty of moderate views that seek to debunk the bulk of western media who find delight in demonizing those in the Middle East. Through the looking glass peering at their everyday lives, the film comes to present the basic need for survival and providing for one's family, no matter one's geography, country, religion and culture. Naturally there were some feathers ruffled, especially when dealing with closed cultures who clam up, or intolerant folks who have no qualms in using violence, but in general, this documentary serves to be rather tame.Yes it's gimmicky in its title, and half the time you're not sure whether MXXSpulock will take that plunge and really head to where he will likely find some inkling of positive leads, but what it had presented instead, is something more powerful that this world really needs to reach out and have everyone taking a more tolerant attitude and to understand one another a lot more, to avoid conflict. This should be a world without strangers, and the documentary managed to show just a glimmer of that hope.

I got another copy of the Christofascist propaganda film Obsession in the mail yesterday. It is appropriate that I sit down to watch this film after the attempts to scare me.Morgan Spurlock is a genius. He made a highly entertaining film that has a real message that needs to be seen and heard by everyone.No matter where he went - Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco - you name it, the people were dismissive of Osama bin Laden and felt that he was responsible for their lives being so bad. he was not a hero, but a villain to Muslims everywhere.What was equally impressive was the fact that everyone hates our government. Not us, but out government. Guess what? We hate it too, but will we have the guts to change it? I don't mean just change parties, I mean change our government to one that doesn't sponsor dictators and terrorism throughout the world as long as it benefits us.The bottom line in this film was that most people in the world are just like us. We want to earn some money, take care of our families, and live in peace. What a novel concept! Check this one out.

I have always been a fan of Morgan. He is head and shoulders above Michael Moore. In this film I really gathered a lot of information on how different countries in the Middle East feel about the United States and the attitudes of our so called friends. I know the U.S. has to do the things that may not be so popular for the best interest of the Country and I am OK with that but when you see how much some of these countries hate us anyway it makes you think. The thing that hit me square between the eyes of this whole film is how much the Saudi's feel and how they run their country. We buy all this oil from them and they look to me as the center of this whole mess we are in, but we will never call them on the carpet because we need them so much. What a mess! I feel we will never be free of this Blackmail until we are energy independent. These people are so rich that they will always have the power to make it hard for us. Thank you. I liked the film very much.

I can see why this didn't do well box office wise, because quite frankly it's pretty boring. I like Morgan Spurlock & think in his future Documentary's he should always be in front of the camera as well as producing & directing it. He is a great personality, and if the subject is right, he can make even a questionable subject enjoyable. However this film is a very long 90 minutes & doesn't seem to have any real point to it. I loved "Super Size Me," & even his FX show 30 days is more interesting & has more to say than this. Unless you are a die-hard Spurlock fan, I would skip this. I will say w/a better subject & a little bit more direction & set-up, he could very well have another good theatrically released documentary. This just isn't it. There are a couple good chuckles here and there, but the story really doesn't take you anywhere that is very interesting. Spurlock will always have the excellent "Super Size Me" to his credit, but here's hoping he can get another good subject to tell us about in a more interesting & entertaining fashion.