Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

My adult children and I watched this tonight, expecting something silly and pointless. We were amazed at the courage and insight of the man who actually went to these countries and put himself in harms way to try to understand the people that we all make judgements about without ever knowing them. Of Course!! it is one person's view. Yes! it is couched in humor. But is this not the point? In between such deep interviews with people so close to the actual conflict, he might come off joking or ... But the truth is there for us to see. An eye for an eye, continued conflict, will never resolve any issue. The attack on 9/11 was horrible and backfired on the people who did it, as such horror does. The attack on Iraq (a former American ally) continues to destroy the country and the people who are totally innocent as well as the ones who aren't, most of whom WENT there BECAUSE of the invasion. What is being done for the innocent victims, and those whose despair exacerbates the violence? This movie reminds us that people who have basic needs of safety, food, water, education for their children met, will not be motivated to go to war. (and that they are basically no different from us all : "I want my children to have a safe future".) OH! and we found the cinematography and editing excellent.

If you're George W. lovin', Big Mac chuggin' far-right-winger, why are you even reading this? Click the back button now, and don't waste your time or money.

If, however, you want to see Morgan Spurlock venture into the darkest corners of the Middle East to discover, hey, we're kind of alike in many ways, then you will enjoy this film. Obviously, Morgan did not find Osama. I think it's unfortunate that this was the theme of the movie, because really, finding Osama was just a pretext. Spurlock wanted to learn more about what makes us the same, and what makes us different. He did both. He went in with no real political agenda, just a feeling that under the skin, we have everything in common. I think he demonstrated this.

While Morgan's wife was pregnant with their first child, Spurlock ventured across the Atlantic from his comfy home in New York. He visited Israel, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and make other Muslim countries. He interviewed students, scholars, extremists, and every day people on the street. While it is amusing to watch him poking his head around corners looking for Osama, it is far more interesting to hear what these people have to say. "If the USA has come to help us, why did they not come with ambulances, but with tanks?" asks one extremist. Spurlock has no answer. Obviously these issues run very deep, but is amazing how alike we all are. One extremist loves WWE wrestling.

Elsewhere, Morgan is taught survival techniques in case he is captured. He watches a bomb squad in Israel detonate a suspicious package. Later, he is surrounded and ordered to leave by an angry mob of Hasidic Jews, who block his exit. It is a lot for the likable filmmaker from New York to deal with, but that is what makes this movie relatable. Spurlock is as alien in these lands as I would be.

The movie, unfortunately, has a contrived unsatisfactory ending (there is a superior one in the bonus features). Just as Spurlock was about to enter the dangerous border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Osama was thought to be hiding, he says, "It's not worth it," turns back and returns to New York. The birth of his son serves as the coda to the film.

While this movie is not as entertaining or complete as Super Size Me was, it is much more important. If you don't leave this film without questioning your own preconcieved notions, then you haven't been paying attention.

4 stars.

Terrible is an understatement for this DVD-movie written/made by another stupid Michael Moore wanna-be. The guy goes to the middle-east to interview Jihadists and Islamists to hear them blame America for the Islamic terrorists' crimes. This is a one man journey to the Arab world and the silly purpose of it is to tell American viewers that Middle-easterners hate America and that war on terror is bogus because a Jihadist says so. Like the Islamic terrorism doesn't exist and therefore it shouldn't be combatted. Anti-Israel feelings can be seen every where. Any how, I give this 73 minute documentary a zero star.