Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

Rating PG13 Formats DVD Genre documentary Starring Morgan Spurlock Directed by Morgan Spurlock Publisher The Weinstein Company

The country was astounded when documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock went on an all-McDonald’s diet in Super Size Me.  His crazy stunt had enough impact to eliminate the super size menu for good.  Hopefully the message in his recent project will inspire somebody, because this is territory beyond Big Macs.  Where In the World is Osama Bin Laden is an entertaining documentary about the state of the war on terrorism that focuses on the simple people.  In the end, it seems the majority of the people just want to live their lives in peace.

The documentary begins with Spurlock getting news that his girlfriend is pregnant. Like any expecting father, he wants his baby to grow up in a safe world.  He decides to travel the country in hopes of finding Osama Bin Laden to put an end to the threat of terror lurking over America.  After getting immunized, Spurlock is taken through military safety training in an entertaining montage.  Pay close attention and you’ll actually learn how to properly dodge a grenade and ambush a gunman.  At the same time, the sequence is frightening, just knowing there are people out there who deal with this terror every single day.  Spurlock travels throughout the Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.  Much of it is simply Spurlock asking everybody where he can find Bin Laden.  The topics tend to change as he finds himself in fun conversations about life in general with the locals.  He also is shocked to learn that most of the civilians don’t have a problem with Americans, but rather the foreign policy of the American government. Some of the discoveries are quite mind-boggling.  The extremist jihads are usually persuaded because the promise of paradise by an elder is the perfect solution to their poverty.  It’s exactly how gangbangers work here in America.  These extremists are an incredibly small population, and many Muslims are tired of a few people ruining their reputations.  Obviously Spurlock never crosses paths with Bin Laden, but comes to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an “us versus them.”  The only way to stop the insanity is for everyone to look out for each other so future generations won’t repeat the mistakes being made.  The ending was anti-climatic, but the message was strong.

For such a sensitive topic, Spurlock sure knows how make a situation light-hearted.  The animations are hilarious, especially one of a computer-generated Spurlock fighting Bin Laden in the style of Mortal Kombat.  The editing is direct and to the point, keeping up a quick pace that never gets boring.  Spurlock is entertaining because he never tries to beat around the bush and be politically correct.  He says everything like it is, but never tries to be hostile.  By being upfront, he got the answers he was looking for.  He even found out that if Bin Laden was still alive, he’d be hiding in Pakistan.  Supposedly the military is still working on that.

It supposedly could be a weakness that this documentary focuses little on facts leading up to the state of affairs between nations, but it would completely defeat the purpose of the film in the first place.  Spurlock didn’t exactly shoot for a documentary, he wanted a movie with a message.  As a documentary, it might be called mediocre at best because he has to rely on gimmicks for the entertainment factor.  But as far as delivering a message of hope, Spurlock is spot-on.  The ending is enough to make somebody rethink their life and the way they treat others.  Spurlock is the anti-Michael Moore.  Moore creates trendy documentaries about the despair of the world and how humanity is screwed.  Spurlock tries to shine light through the darkness and encourages people to never give up hope.  There couldn’t be a better reason to make a movie and the heart behind it is reason enough to go out and view it.