Fog of War, The

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Never one to shy away from challenges, Morris has come up with one of the best documentaries of this or any year.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

If there's one movie that ought to be studied by military and civilian leaders around the world at this treacherous historical moment, it is The Fog of War, Errol Morris's sober, beautifully edited documentary portrait of the former United States defense secretary Robert S. McNamara.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The filmmaking is meticulous and the ideas are endlessly thought-provoking.

USA Today Mike Clark

Though the movie may not change many minds about McNamara, it richly humanizes him, a valuable feat atop all the fascinating reflection.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Errol Morris may have been put on earth to make The Fog of War, a stunning portrait of Robert S. McNamara that closes a year of outstanding nonfiction movies on a high note.

Time Richard Corliss

This is spellbinding reality cinema about duplicity and, worse, ignorance at the highest level.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Probing... haunting.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Masterful documentary.

Dallas Observer Melissa Levine

Brilliant.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

McNamara speaks concisely and forcibly, rarely searching for a word, and he is not reciting boilerplate and old sound bites; there is the uncanny sensation that he is thinking as he speaks.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

In the end, The Fog of War offers a couple of hours of brilliant clarity amid the noise and chaos.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

A chilling reminder of the precipice the world stands on nowadays, from a man who looked over the edge more than once.

Empire David Hughes

The film's status as must-see documentary of the year is indisputable.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

McNamara fits perfectly into Morris's canon: He tells a story that knocks you right off your feet.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

McNamara fits perfectly into Morris's canon: He tells a story that knocks you right off your feet.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Errol Morris delivers a compelling, thoughtful and entirely involving documentary in The Fog of War.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Revisits the past with an eye on the present and future, hoping as McNamara does that his "lessons" are instructive and might keep history from repeating itself.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

No matter what your opinion of McNamara, The Fog of War is a chastening experience.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

McNamara has a reputation for being intelligent and belligerent. The Fog of War validates the former characteristic, but not necessarily the latter.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It will knock you for a loop like no other movie this year.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

McNamara's too mentally adroit to let Morris pin blame or guilt on him, and the director's not interested in shaming him.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The film's central drama is not between the former secretary and the filmmaker. It's between McNamara and history.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

McNamara, a robust conversationalist, is so lively that he bursts out of what is essentially a talking-head documentary.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The most compelling -- and horrifying -- portion of the film, which interweaves archival footage and stylish graphics with the interview segments, centers on the firebombing of Japan during World War II.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

Simultaneously offers priceless insight into the nation's past and a worrisome take on the future.

Film Threat Bob Westal

Presents us with a man who simply cannot be easily categorized, even when he looks us straight in the eye.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Arguably the most conventional documentary made by Errol Morris and, perhaps equally surprising, it displays sympathy toward its subject.

LA Weekly Marc Cooper

Morris is a more talented filmmaker than he is an interviewer. Mean-while, McNamara is a subject so complex and so rich in nuance that he requires no cinematic embellishment.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

No one could have held The Fog of War wanting if Morris had concluded that it's impossible to get all the way to the bottom of Robert McNamara. But explicating an enigma is not the same thing as blurring it with artistic ambitions. The thickest fog in this documentary has been conjured not by McNamara, but by Errol Morris.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Haunting, troubling documentary.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The film's greatest strength is its inadvertent timeliness. Parallels between LBJ's Vietnam policy and George W. Bush's Iraq policy go off in your head like flares.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

An extraordinary documentary about an extraordinary man that brings to urgent life potentially dry questions of American foreign policy in the 1960s.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

McNamara finally gets to tell his side of the story -- and is somewhat humanized in the process -- but still comes off looking like a tragic character living in a state of denial.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The S in Robert S. McNamara stands for Strange, which is an unusual middle name and perhaps an apt description of the man at the centre of documentary filmmaker Errol Morris's gripping character study, The Fog of War.

TV Guide Ken Fox

They're answers that will either earn your respect, or further damn him as the architect of an American nightmare.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

More often McNamara comes across as Exhibit A in Morris's latest metaphysical creepshow.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The film is watchable as well as informative...But I wish I had a better notion of what story he's trying to tell.