I saw a midnight screening of Morgan Spurlock's Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? The theater was full and Spurlock was engaging, as one would expect. In the film he travels to key countries in the Middle East and asks people where they think OBL is, what they think about him, and what they think about the United States. Presented are a few thoughts about the documentary — I will do a longer review piece around the time the film is released in theaters.
• First, no, Spurlock does not find Osama bin Laden, and truth be told, he doesn't really try that hard to find him. He asks almost everyone he meets, including students in Egypt, women in a shopping mall in Saudi Arabia, and vendors in an outdoor market in Pakistan. The film is most interesting when we hear ordinary people in these regions speak.
• As a wry commentary on how Americans view the world, there are a lot of animation sequences — during opening titles and between visits to each country, which place Spurlock in an XBOX-like video game with him battling versions of Osama bin Laden in high-def graphics. They are a visual cue card and also entertaining.
• Spurlock uses his wife's pregnancy as both the reason for the film (stating that if he really wanted to make the world safer for his baby, then he must get rid of the biggest threat), and as a kind of countdown clock throughout the film, reminding him that he must be home before the baby's delivery. The first aspect works, though the econd, which he dubs "Operation Special Delivery" seems more forced — as though he needs a contained time-frame because that is what he did in his first movie, Super-Size Me, and it is what he does in his FX series, 30 Days.
• Various terrorists and political leaders are presented on screen as "players" with their likenesses on baseball trading-card style graphics. It is humorous and keeps your attention, though doesn't really add that much substantively.
• He also goes a little into the history of the US in the region, again using animation to show The Shah through the Iran-Iraq war and US involvement.
• The people in the street responses are interesting. Most state that they don't like or need bin Laden, and also despise U.S. foreign policy, considering the US to be a big bully. One does say to Spurlock that he wishes for an event where millions of Americans will die — but then says he hopes that Spurlock isn't there when it happens.
• Spurlock deals fairly with both sides in the Israel-Palestinian debate, seeming to sympathize with the concerns from both sides. One Israeli in the film notes that everyone knows how the story will end in this region — two independent states — but what isn't known is how many people will die by then. The potential for a solution is being held hostage by extremists on both sides.
• Spurlock told us in Q & A after the film (it ended around 1:30AM and he answered questions for another 20 minutes or so), that he had over 1000 hours of footage and that "The DVD will be awesome."
Most of the people Morgan Spurlock talks with distinguish between the American people from the U.S. government, stating that the people are great but that the government wants to kill Muslims. Others complain that the U.S. talks about freedom but then supports oppressive regimes in the region.
Spurlock breaks no new ground in this film. He makes some poignant points and the film is fun visually, but it isn't news that poverty and a feeling of powerlessness helps the recruitment for extremists in the region — including al-Qaeda. He underscores how Osama bin Laden takes advantage of the injustices in the region to recruit and gain power. And while he does not develop it, Spurlock's solution is like a Marshall plan for the Middle East — give people economic justice and opportunity, and then they may listen to us — but we have to listen to them.
The critical aspect of the film is that it gives a human face to the citizens of the Middle East. They laugh, share their beliefs, opinions and stories. The film tries hard to emphasize that the people there have the same fears and hopes as the people here in the US. But the foreignness of the places he goes — he admits that Saudi Arabia is the strangest place he has ever been — makes that hard to really believe. But you do believe these people are, for the most part, good people just trying to make sense of their place in the world — and for giving us a chance to see that, Spurlock has given us something that is needed in a time where many of those in that region are faceless, nameless "Muslims."

One question in the Q&A was particularly interesting — Did Morgan Spurlock think that there was a danger in using so much humor in the film for what is a scary and desperate situation? Spurlock was thoughtful in his response, explaining that in order to make people listen to what you have to say, you need to make them laugh. As he also said in the Q & A, "One thing I took away from making the film — As much as we aremoving forward, we need to listen, and we haven't done that.

Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? is in the Spectrum section at the festival and is expected to begin a roll-out release at the end of April. Photo at Right is of the Author and Morgan Spurlock at about 2AM after a midnight screening of his new film.
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