Supersize Follow-Up: Spurlock's Film Splits Auds

Is it The Idiot's Guide to the War on Terror? Or an honest look for answers about why They hate America so much? Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?, Morgan Spurlock's follow-up to Super Size Me, was the most debated film in Park City this year. In the film, Spurlock, motivated by the impending birth of his first child, heads to the Muslim "street" to try and figure out 1) Where Osama is; 2) Why America's reputation is suffering worldwide and; 3) Why we can't all just get along.

A few of my friends found it frivolous and immature. Its vague, statistics- and expertise-lite "Arabs are people, too" and "America maybe had it coming" approach to the post-9/11 era, they said, shrugs off the realities of Islam fundamentalism. Several critics hated it, Ain't It Cool News the most: "SPOILERS ALERT…HE DOESN’T EVEN TRY HARD TO LOOK FOR BIN LADEN! … I’ll just go ahead and get it over with. This movie is fucking retarded … one big 98-minute Morgan Spurlock ego-fart." And Variety was dismissive:

Wandering from Muslim country to Muslim country, he sets out to validate his premise that Arabs are just like us, or at least more like us than they are like bin Laden. This is not hard to prove, since Spurlock has no method and no accountability. He's not a journalist, but he plays one, even while violating the commandment against having conclusions first and proving them later … [W]hy are we watching Spurlock interview anyone? The idea is ludicrous, but not ludicrous enough -- he takes himself far too seriously, even while displaying righteous indignation in a manner that paints him as a cliched, uninformed American.

Cinematical's James Rocchi stood up for the film: "While Spurlock may not actually answer the question of where, he actually tackles, with humor, probing wit and a certain grace, the much more important question of why."

My take: Spurlock is a charismatic storyteller with a fearless streak and a gift for connecting with people. He needs to spend more energy on research and less on gimmicks (animated sequences include Osama-vs-Morgan vid-game footage and Osama singing & dancing to MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This"). He's no Michael Moore, yet. Osama lacks the kind of sophistication that might spark national debate. Still, Osama's mostly entertaining. Its heart's in the right place. Spurlock got in over his head, but his effort to understand our generation's Them is an honorable one.