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Why We Fight
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by: Eugene Jarecki
Directed by: Eugene Jarecki
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 20, 2006
DVD: June 27, 2006
Running Time: 98 minutes, B/W / Color
Origin: USA
Language(s): English / Arabic
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring William Solomon, Karen Kwiatkowski, Anh Duong, John McCain, William Kristol, Richard Perle, Gore Vidal, and John S.D. Eisenhower
This documentary is an unflinching look at the anatomy of the American war machine, weaving unforgettable personal stories with commentary by a "who's who" of military and beltway insiders. (Sony Pictures Classics)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Trials of Henry Kissinger
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
It's impossible to imagine anyone, right-leaning or left, coming away from this hugely important documentary unshaken by its representation of the United States and its military establishment.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
It's a topical, iconoclastic documentary with the warmth and pace of a first-rate personal essay.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Jarecki is no glib ideologue thumbing his nose at power.
Read Full Review >Variety Robert Koehler
Picture sets the gold standard for political documentaries.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Why We Fight deserves high praise for making it that much tougher to wear blinders.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
An agit-doc of unusual depth. It has a point -- that the primary business of America over the past half-century has been waging war -- and it supports that point with nuance, research, and a willingness to hear the other side of the argument.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
There's plenty of ammunition here for liberal conspiracy theorists, which surely will limit the audience to those already in Jarecki's political camp. Which is too bad, for it is a sobering history lesson as well as a political polemic on foreign policy and the growth of war into America's biggest business.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
A film that stands out for its passion, ambition and clarion-call sincerity, even amid the contemporary onslaught of political documentaries.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Memo to left-wing anti-Bushies: Stories like this work. Don't lecture. Tell stories! Much better!
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
There's no denying the particular political slant of Why We Fight, but Jarecki's thoughtful, nonconfrontational approach makes it absorbing viewing, regardless of whether or not you buy his arguments.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The strength of this documentary lies in its balance, or at least the careful appearance of balance.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Neva Chonin
A somber polemic that presents a convincing case against using war as an economic booster -- although, Jarecki argues, that is precisely what the United States has been doing under every president since Truman.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Why We Fight attempts, somewhat sketchily, to connect the dots between Ike's Cassandra-like warnings and current events.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
The result isn't quite a Michael Moore movie without the hubris, but it's reasonably close. It's thoughtful, and you have to take it seriously and with respect.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Whether we've reached the critical mass of "misplaced power" is the gist of the current national debate, and Why We Fight is a useful tool in that argument.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Ultimately, Why We Fight reveals itself as yet another leftie doc with an anti-war agenda. But the mere fact that it takes time to ask questions and listen to opposing viewpoints sets it apart from the pack.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
In addition to the usual pontificators like Gore Vidal, whose world weariness has assumed Olympian proportions, the director provides interviews with such right-wing counterparts as Richard Perle and William Kristol. Nobody is allowed much time to develop an argument.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
The long line of recent muckraking documentaries that has preceded Why We Fight does nothing to diminish its force.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
Jarecki says that his film doesn't precisely answer the question in his title. He is mistaken.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer
Adding to the film's underlying sense of urgency and unease is composer Robert Miller's haunting score, so reminiscent of Philip Glass' music for "The Fog of War."
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Jarecki's film forcefully argues that the much abused word FREEDOM cannot paper over the conflicts between capitalism and democracy.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Despite Jarecki's varied success in bringing these six people's stories to life, their stories personalize our current geopolitical predicament and remind us that in a democracy no one can shrug off responsibility for the war.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
This scary, eye-opening documentary looks back from a post-9/11 vantage point to see how Ike’s prophecy has come horribly true.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
Unconvincing and ineffective; the many patches of ideological montage, growing like kudzu throughout the film, weaken the impact of its best moments.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Mr. Jarecki forcefully, if not with wholesale persuasiveness, argues that our business is specifically war.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt
A pretty entertaining case against our current war and question the integrity of our president, but more than that, these docs manipulate imagery, music and sound bites to work their audiences into a frenzy.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie tells us nothing we haven't heard before.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
There may not be two equal sides to every argument, but in giving such little credence to those who might oppose him, Jarecki makes us wonder what exactly it is he’s so afraid of.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
This rehash of familiar pacifist arguments offers neither heat nor light. It's "Fahrenheit: Room Temperature."
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Mr. Jarecki undercuts his own case -- not just undercuts but carpet-bombs it -- by using the same propaganda techniques he professes to abhor.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Riren gave it a5:
This documentary is unfortunately highly biased and tries to coerce rather than inform, a trend in modern documentary. It does not even come close to answering the sociological question of violence in America, or even the U.S.'s reasons for going to war throughout so much of its history. However, it is very informative about the military industrial complex - indeed, if 45 minutes were cut off the film, it could be repackaged as a documentary about just that, though then the film wouldn't be as sensational. It employs the tired, old propoganda tricks, like quotes taken out of context, a few anonymous quotes used to indicate the minds of millions, and musical montages that don't technically state an opinion but still beat you over the head with it. The film's real answer to why we fight is that there is a vast organization of businesses that profit off of war, and that they have infected politics to make sure they keep raking in the billions. This is a disturbing part of the answer, but unfortunately it is only a part - and the rest isn't that U.S. citizens are all dumb and none of the politicians care. Don't get me wrong, it's a great question. Hopefully a better documentary will try to answer it someday.
Floyd B. gave it a2:
If people are to be awakened to what is going on about why we create wars of aggression, this documentary is not very good. What was the producer afraid of? I bought the DVD waste of money.
Jose S. gave it a2:
This was more a two hour editorial than a documentary. It was filled with opinions only, no facts. I agree with the general motivation behind it, but it was unfocused. The central theme revolves around an impossible to prove theory about the "military industrial complex," implying some collusion between political, military, and industrial leaders. This film has all of the bad aspects of a Michael Moore film, but none of the good. What is most disappointing is that facts exist to support some theories similar to what was attempted; however, the film lacks the sophistication to really do any of these theories justice. Ultimately, it was nothing more than a juvenile, unsubstantiated conspiracy theory.
Albert R. gave it a5:
I went expecting to learn something but I didn't learn anything new, so I'd say this documentary is best for those who need to catch up on US military industrial complex inluences and history, especially in relation to the current war in Iraq. Even so, the approach is too scattershot. I found the film understimulating, a bit tedious. There are some good elements--some of the interviews are surprising, especially a retired female colonel who worked in the Pentagon. I agree that the retired cop is another effective bit. What this film brough home to me is that writing and directing both effective and entertaining documentaries are extremely difficult to pull off. Michael Moore does it but he makes no pretense at evenhanded treatment, which Jarecki seems to want to do. So, see this if you need education on these themes; if you don;t, you can do without it. Unfortunately, I think that the audience for a film like this is more likely to be the latter.
Mark B. gave it a7:
Who would ever have foreseen the day in which President Dwight D. Eisenhower would become not only a hero but an avatar to Democrats everywhere? Not that he was perfect, mind you, or didn't have a lot to answer for: Ike pretty much stood back and allowed Joe McCarthy almost total free rein for a couple of years, and was so wimpy on civil rights that if presidential term limits hadn't be put into effect after FDR, we might STILL be eating at segregated lunch counters. Eisenhower's finest day in office might well have been his last: in his farewell address, he warned the American people to beware of the burgeoning military-industrial complex. As both a military man and a politician, he should know; as the much-loved general he was during World War 2 he--like all good soldiers--really hated war. But the American corporate machine has to keep rolling and increasing in speed and power...and with it, so do the tanks and bombers. [***SPOILERS***] That's the thesis of Why We Fight, Eugene Jarecki's comprehensive examination of the US's inevitably expansive military presence worldwide from WW2 on, inevitably culminating in and focusing on the current, apparently endless Iraq debacle. This movie is the perfect documentary expansion of the old T-shirt and bumper-sticker slogan "War is good business--invest your son", but viewers looking for another Bush-bash-a-thon will find that the blame is spread pretty evenly; in fact, of all the US Presidents of the past 60 years, the only two who AREN'T catalogued or blamed as partial contributors to the problem are Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Why We Fight is decidedly straightforward in pursuing its point; maybe the fact that Jarecki almost never leavens his message with humor, puckishness or sarcasm the way that Michael Moore, Robert Greenwald or the folks who brought you Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room do explains in part why Roger Ebert wasn't too thrilled with this film. What Why We Fight DOES give you, however, are three absolutely unforgettable, no-screenwriter-could-do-them-justice individuals: there's retired cop Wilton Selczer (who bears a remarkable resemblance to actor Bruce McGill), this film's rough equivalent to Fahrenheit 9/11's Lila Lipscomb: he's a grieving dad who spends years trying to exorcise his pain over his son's 9/11 death by having the boy's name painted on an Iraq-bound bomb. There's former career Air Force officer Karen Kwiatkowski (who bears a remarkable resemblance to actress Emily Watson), an incredibly decent, admirable woman who clearly loved her work but couldn't reconcile her sworn duty with what the administration is asking her to do, and so she resigned...and then there's William Solomon (who bears a remarkable resemblance to the kid down the street), a sweet, likable young man who sees military service, which of course almost inevitably involves going to the Middle East, as his only ticket out of economic oblivion. For a real one-two gut puch, watch this film, absorb its conclusions, and follow it up by reading the provocative best-selling book Is The American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles, (a former military man and Wall Street power player, and a social conservative who walks his talk). It's a sprawling but thoroughly credible expansion of Stiles' thesis that the all-encompassing (and ethically barren) American business market will not be denied, dominates every aspect of American life, and whose unchecked reign has led to everything from high divorce rates to road rage to gang violence to Super Bowl wardrobe malfunctions...and, yes, to the war in Iraq too. Digesting both these works will certainly cause you, when hearing politicians and pundits claim that we're fighting for freedom (whether providing it around the world or protecting our own), to filter most of their rationalizations through the slightly rephrased words of Mae West : "Freedom has nothing to do with it!"
Dale M. gave it a7:
This could have been a great documentary if it stuck more to "why we fight" rather than the more narrow theme of "why are we fighting in Iraq." The people in the theatre where I saw it applauded at various anti-current government statements. I feel many missed the broader point that it makes no difference which party has been in power the past 50 years. I applaud this film for reaching toward some broader political statement than Michael Moore's unabashedly anti-Bush film. I disagree with some reviewers that the film was really anti-war. The director seems to have no qualms about WWII or about the NY Policeman's feeling that we ought to get whoever was responsible for 911. However, the director is clearly against the way the military-industrial- congressional complex manipulates things. Unfortunately the director succumbs to pandering to the ready-made anti-Bush crowd by over-focussing on only one of the wars of the past 50 years. One further note: The director spoke after the film at the showing I attended. He said he recently screened the film at West Point and says he has been asked to screen it again there. It's not really surprising that soldiers are interested to learn how they might be being manipulated. I think this points out that the film is not really so much anti-war in general as it is against the collusion between the two major political parties, the defense industry, and the leaders of the military.
Navid gave it a10:
We are at the point in history that our collective action has far more horrendous effect than we can enviosn. "Why We Fight" tells us, in a subtle way, what future will be awaiting us. In 1906, no one could predict the coming of WWI and its massive killing of human beings...I think, we are all blind, and the only thing that will sober us all (humanity on earth) is a massive catastrophic war, graver than any war we have seen...
