Did Morgan Spurlock find Osama bin Laden or not?

Now that "Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?" -- Morgan Spurlock's follow-up to "Super Size Me" -- has finally screened for the public (or at least a sold-out, star-and-media-heavy Sundance screening), the answers to all those swirling rumors will soon be put to rest: Did Spurlock indeed track down the world's most-wanted terrorist?

Find out after the jump.

No, he did not.

He didn't even find one of Bin Laden's abandoned caves or safe houses. Nor did he locate any former employees or get face-to-face interviews with family members. Faced with a sign at the border of Pakistan's hostile tribal areas warning of the strict prohibition against foreigners in their lands and the impending arrival of his first child back home in the United States, Spurlock ultimately decides not to risk his life chasing a phantom and heads home.
It may seem like I'm spoiling the movie, but I'm really not. Because as Spurlock himself discovers in his odyssey across the Middle East, Bin Laden the man is beside the point now. His ideas and followers have grown much larger than anything a single person could hope to harness and locating him would do nothing to stop the horrific tide of violence in that part of the world.

But don't think that Spurlock has turned nihilistic. He may have grown a bit older, and there's some gray in that beard he grows during his long overseas trek, but he's still not above teasing a stone-faced Imam a little bit. The topic this time may be more serious and complex than the effects of fast food on the human body, but if anything, it goes a long way to demonstrating what a showman Spurlock has become.

A tour of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine and Egypt may seem like a long, grim slog, but if the filmmaker learned anything from his examination of the McDonald's culture, it's that anything can seem entertaining with a little pizazz. So he throws in extensive machinima and poppy songs while he attempts to educate us on the lives of normal, everyday people in the Middle East.

Spurlock isn't attempting to be as shocking as Michael Moore, and there's a surprising sweetness to be found behind some of those imposing Muslim beards. Perhaps because he's not shouting, people may actually listen.

-- Patrick Day

(Photo: Rebecca Sapp / WireImage)

Comments

[Sheldon Filger]

If Morgan Spurlock's new film on Osama bin Laden helps stimulate a more nuanced public discussion on the causes of international terrorism, it will have made an important contribution.

[william]

He didn't find him because he is dead

[ewoodlore]

Sheldon,

If you don't know "the causes of international terrorism" by now, you never will. This may be news to you, but it's not all America's fault all the time. In fact, international terrorism has been around for decades before 9/11, American troops in Muslim Lands, and even before the creation of the State of Israel. I know you and Morgan may not want to hear these things, but it's the way it is, and those of us who have been studying history and terrorism long before 911 have always known this.

[Arye Michael Bender]

Long ago suspected that there is no real Osama Bin Laden. He is an image manufactured somewhere deep in the bowels of the Pentagon in order to stir up fear. Not unlike, 'Wag the Dog".

-Arye Michael Bender -

[Ontor Pertawst]

He doesn't have 1/5th the heart of Michael Moore or 1/10th the filmmaking chops... just a bunch of shallow gimmicks. Maybe next time he can eat McDonalds every single meal while trying to find Bin Laden.

[DC Comics]

Review at Village Voice says:
"Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?, a vile, naïve, and reactionary film ... Giving credence to the ugliest of ugly-American stereotypes, Spurlock bulldozes his way through Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Israel... Michael Moore at his shallowest is fathoms deeper than this."