'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?' leaves more questions than answers
By Taryn Lentes, Staff Writer
May 13, 2008 | 6 p.m.
Morgan Spurlock is best known for his pointed and hilarious documentary “Super Size Me." His new film, “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?," is neither as insightful nor as funny as “Super Size Me”– and it shows.
The premise of “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?” is one prompted by the impending birth of Spurlock's first child. According to the documentary, the filmmaker headed to the Middle East in search of Osama Bin Laden in order to gain a sense of security about the world in which he was to bring his baby.
One of the best things about Spurlock’s previous work has been his insightful humor. He managed to point out the obvious in a way that enabled the audience to laugh at uncomfortable situations. With a non-existent budget, “Super Size Me” was able to take full advantage of the humor in the story, as opposed to “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden," which, despite its greater financial freedom, suffers.
It becomes clear throughout the film that Spurlock has been given the green light to do whatever he wants, and in some cases someone should have pulled at the reins. Within the documentary, there exist moments that are reminiscent of his previous comedic success, such as Spurlock's intense survival training course and several off-the-cuff comments for which it is a wonder Spurlock was not shot upon utterance.
For the most part, Spurlock attempts to wring humor out of overly produced animated segments depicting everything from Bin Laden dancing to “Can’t Touch This” to a video game battle between the terrorist leader and Spurlock himself. The novelty of such gimmicks wears off quickly, and the sequences just appear to be more and more out of place, given the documentary’s serious subject matter.
As for actually finding Osama Bin Laden, that is clearly not the film's purpose, and the movie drags far less when Spurlock stops pretending that it is. There are some decent interviews with people from several Middle Eastern countries regarding what would make someone turn to extremism and violence, which Spurlock is successful in conducting.
Every once in a while, probably in an annoying attempt to be funny, he feels the need to randomly ask someone on the street if they know where Osama Bin Laden is. At moments like this, it is impossible not to wonder if Spurlock will make it out of his own documentary alive– and if he actually thinks he is succeeding at comedy.
The problem with “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?” is not that it is completely devoid of humor or sincerity, it is simply that both angles have been covered far better and far sooner by other filmmakers. If Spurlock's plan was to create a biting political satire, then "The Daily Show" has him beat with half-hour segments on any given weekday. If his plan was to make a truly groundbreaking documentary, then the filmmaker failed again.
Spurlock needs to give back about half of his budget, return to his roots and give it a bit more effort next time.
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"Where in the world is Osama Bin Laden?"
Speakeasy Rating: C-
Running Time: 93 min MPAA
Rating: PG-13 for some strong language