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Fog of War, The
Sony Pictures Classics
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for images and thematic issues of war and destruction
Starring
Robert McNamara,
Fidel Castro,
Barry Goldwater,
Lyndon Johnson,
John F. Kennedy,
Curtis LeMay,
Richard Nixon, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
and
Woodrow Wilson
The Fog of War is a 20th century fable, a story of an American dreamer, Robert S. McNamara, who rose from humble origins to the heights of political power. (Sony Pictures Classics)
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
War
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Errol Morris
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 11, 2004
Video: May 11, 2004
Theatrical: December 19, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
95 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Also known as "The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara"; Best Documentary, 2003 National Board of Review; Nominated, Best Documentary, 2004 Independent Spirit Awards
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...
100
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.
100
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.
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The filmmaking is meticulous and the ideas are endlessly thought-provoking.
100
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.
100
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.
100
Time
Richard Corliss
This is spellbinding reality cinema about duplicity and, worse, ignorance at the highest level.
100
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Probing... haunting.
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Masterful documentary.
100
Dallas Observer
Melissa Levine
Brilliant.
100
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.
100
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
In the end, The Fog of War offers a couple of hours of brilliant clarity amid the noise and chaos.
100
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.
100
Empire
David Hughes
The film's status as must-see documentary of the year is indisputable.
90
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
McNamara fits perfectly into Morris's canon: He tells a story that knocks you right off your feet.
90
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
McNamara fits perfectly into Morris's canon: He tells a story that knocks you right off your feet.
90
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Errol Morris delivers a compelling, thoughtful and entirely involving documentary in The Fog of War.
90
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.
90
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
No matter what your opinion of McNamara, The Fog of War is a chastening experience.
88
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.
88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
It will knock you for a loop like no other movie this year.
88
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.
88
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
The film's central drama is not between the former secretary and the filmmaker. It's between McNamara and history.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
McNamara, a robust conversationalist, is so lively that he bursts out of what is essentially a talking-head documentary.
88
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.
80
Film Threat
Rick Kisonak
Simultaneously offers priceless insight into the nation's past and a worrisome take on the future.
80
Film Threat
Bob Westal
Presents us with a man who simply cannot be easily categorized, even when he looks us straight in the eye.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
Arguably the most conventional documentary made by Errol Morris and, perhaps equally surprising, it displays sympathy toward its subject.
80
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.
80
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.
80
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Haunting, troubling documentary.
75
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.
75
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.
75
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.
75
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.
60
TV Guide
Ken Fox
They're answers that will either earn your respect, or further damn him as the architect of an American nightmare.
50
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
More often McNamara comes across as Exhibit A in Morris's latest metaphysical creepshow.
50
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.
 The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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