It takes some kind of hubris to think you’re the one guy on earth who can find Osama Bin Laden. Morgan Spurlock had a modest success in 2004 with Super Size Me, where he put on dozens of pounds in just a few weeks eating McDonald’s fast food for every meal. But this is quite a leap, like thinking you can rid America of guns, or affect a Presidential election with a movie, or get universal health care passed in America by saying how great Fidel Castro and Cuba are. For his follow up, Spurlock decided to make the world a better place for his pregnant wife and future offspring by finding the FBI’s most wanted man . . . 
He travels all over the Middle East, talking to lots of people about America’s foreign policy, Islam, and their own governments. But he really doesn’t want to find Bin Laden – it’s just a stunt to promote his movie. A trip to the Gaza Strip shows he’s more interested spouting his own leftist politics to the camera than actually accomplishing anything. Near the end, he chickens out entering Pakistan (the last known whereabouts of Bin Laden) when he sees a sign forbidding foreigners to enter. He rips off Michael Moore with his narration, his use of cartoons, and his winks to the camera. But he doesn’t have the budget to imitate Moore’s terrific use of songs. He’s not quite as good at self-promoting as Moore is either, but he’s likable enough. It is true that the average Muslim in the Middle East wants the same thing as the average American, but Spurlock doesn’t have, offer, or suggest any real solutions. C
1 comment:
Spurlock drank his own kool-aid and the result is that his stuff sucks.
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