Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona

Filmmaker-gadfly Morgan Spurlock is back with the warm, amusing -- and decidedly mistitled -- "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?"

Film Threat Mark Bell

The film is, like "Super Size Me," extremely entertaining and, again, Spurlock shows that if it's one thing he knows how to do well, it's the first 10 minutes of a documentary.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

No doubt this is a sincere film. But its wobbly technique prevents it from ever reaching a point.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

So kudos to Spurlock for going into enemy territory and coming back with the message that there really is no enemy territory. It almost – almost – makes up for the fact that Where in the World is marred by one of the worst endings in movie history.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Spurlock is good company: a more likable, less abrasive, less manipulative Michael Moore.

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

Though entertaining, Spurlock's lighthearted approach doesn't work as well here.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Could as easily be called "Spurlock: Cultural Learnings Of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of America."

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Spurlock's intermittently entertaining travelogue ultimately reveals that people in disparate countries of different religions and wildly divergent ideologies are more alike than not.

Empire Damon Wise

A frustratingly soft documentary that would sooner teach the world to sing than get to the bottom of the Bin Laden enigma.

Time Richard Corliss

Non-headline-making but often entertaining docu-travelogue.

Slate Dana Stevens

With his goofy interview technique and easy laugh, Spurlock has a way of putting his subjects at ease even as he tests the audience's patience.

The Hollywood Reporter Justin Lowe

Although he makes an amusing comic foil, Spurlock is ill-equipped to either evaluate or report on Middle East foreign policy. His methodology is disturbingly casual and conclusions woefully simplistic.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason McBride

Exasperating and goofy documentary.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The film is a hodgepodge, and it closes with a whimper. But along the way some lucid voices slip through.

Variety John Anderson

Morgan Spurlock, of the "Super Size Me" phenom, serves up a rehash of others' 9/11 reportage, bin Laden biography, Islamic theology and suicide-bomber psychology, in a tone so aghast you'd assume he knew nothing about the War on Terror -- which should make pic very appealing for those who know nothing about the War on Terror.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

An affable action hero in search of the planet's arch supervillain, Spurlock is less irritating than his obvious model, Michael Moore, but also less politically astute; assuming the role of a faux-naïf stranger in a strange land, he's more benign and not nearly as funny as unacknowledged analogue Sacha Baron Cohen.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

In casbahs and desert villages, in kibbutzim and around the campfire, Spurlock has a way of getting people to open up, to use their real voices and express their real opinions, the likes of which never make it onto network news. That's his gift, and when he uses it, "Where in the World zzzzz-zzzz" opens up into a miraculous document.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The facetiousness of this project is charming at first -- as is the conceit of depicting the hunt for Mr. bin Laden using video-game animation -- but the charm wears off pretty quickly.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

This movie is a case of arthouse bait and switch. Its true subject is one decent Yank's desire to believe that Everyman and Everywoman - Everywhere! - are as warm and amiable as your average American Joe: him, Morgan Spurlock, the regular guy as fearless globetrotter.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

While the film's gags don't always jibe with its sincere interviews of Middle Eastern citizens, or its worrisome encounters with the soldiers serving in dangerous territory--the constantly shifting tone provides as many hit bits as misses.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A primer no one needed, Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? should have been called "The Post-9/11 World for Dummies."

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

After a clever start, Spurlock turns self-serious, aiming to teach us something about our enemies and ourselves.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

I was not a fan of Albert Brooks's "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" (2005), but Brooks, at least, seemed willing to concede before it was over that his movie was a terrible idea. Spurlock seems opportunistically optimistic.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Everywhere he goes he asks if anybody knows bin Laden's whereabouts – as if anybody is going to tell him! Why should we accompany him on his self-aggrandizing trip?

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The narrative emphasizes how much danger Spurlock is in and how noble he is to embark on all this while his wife is back in the U.S. expecting their first child; it's a little insulting to all the real reporters who've died in the field looking for hard information, not weak indie comedy.

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

Morgan Spurlock is a living, breathing cautionary tale. Take a good, long look, kids: This is what happens when society validates really annoying people.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

One of my critical brethren opined that this sort of dumbing-down and low comedy may be the only way to sell the public a movie about the Iraq war. If that's true, God help us.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

A film so self-centered that even the director's most dedicated stalkers might find it a bit too narcissistic.