''Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' is a 2008 documentary film conceived by

Adam Dell Adam R. Dell (born January 14, 1970) is an American venture capitalist and is the brother of Michael Dell, the founder of computer manufacturing company Dell Inc. Early and personal life Dell was born in Houston, Texas, to a German-Jewish fam ...

and co-written, produced, directed by, and starring

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (November 7, 1970 – May 23, 2024) was an American documentary filmmaker, writer, and television producer. He directed 23 films and was the producer of nearly 70 films throughout his career. Spurlock received acclaim f ...

. The title of the film is a play on the title of the television game show and computer game series, '' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'', and other "Where in the World is" themes. In 2017, the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

revealed that

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

himself had a copy of the film on hard drives recovered at his hideout in

Abbottabad Abbottabad is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in the country and 6th largest in the province by population, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Synopsis

After some comical animations involving

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

leader

, the film shows Spurlock visiting various countries associated with or affected by bin Laden. The film contains short interviews with many people about bin Laden and

Islamic fundamentalism Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

, and about the United States and its war on terror. Supposedly, Spurlock searches for bin Laden, and he even asks people at random in the street where he is. The film is intercut with images of Alex Jamieson, Spurlock's then-wife, in the late stages of her pregnancy. Much of Spurlock's commentary is based on the concerns of a new father. Spurlock visits Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, guarded by about 21

Afghan Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Ho ...

soldiers, he visits

Tora Bora Tora Bora (, "Black Cave") is a cave complex, part of the Spin Ghar (White Mountains) mountain range of eastern Afghanistan. It is situated in the Pachir Aw Agam District of Nangarhar, approximately west of the Khyber Pass and north of the ...

. A local government official is shown who wants to change it into an amusement park. Spurlock is also shown on a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

patrol as an

embedded journalist Embedded journalism refers to war correspondents being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in ...

. Spurlock is shown hesitating to enter the area of Pakistan near the Afghan border where bin Laden is at the time, which is closed to foreigners, and deciding not to go there, arguing that it is not worth the risk. He concludes that the people in the countries he visited are ordinary people just like himself and the audience. Spurlock guesses that bin Laden is likely hiding in tribal lands near

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, Pakistan. Three years later Bin Laden was found 200 km away in

Reception

''Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' received a mixed reception from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval score of 38% based on 108 reviews, with an average rating of 4.90/10. The consensus reads, "Morgan Sprulock's doc offers occasional insights but gets bogged down by the director/subject's gimmicky schtick." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 45 out of 100 based on 28 critics' reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * *
''Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?''
at sundance.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? 2008 documentary films 2008 films American documentary films Documentary films about terrorism Films shot in Egypt Films directed by Morgan Spurlock Works about Osama bin Laden Documentary films about Egypt Documentary films about the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films

Synopsis

Reception

See also

References

External links