Morgan Spurlock burst into prominence with his crowd pleasing SUPER SIZE ME that took down the McDonald’s franchise’s super sizing policy.  His second feature, WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN? follows much in the footsteps of his first hit, dealing more with the glamour than the reality of his subject.  But while showing some earnestness in SUPER SIZE ME, Spurlock is totally over the top here. 

Spurlock’s film starts with the impetus towards his search for Osama: His wife is having a baby and he wants the world to be a better place for his kid.  He believes (yes, right?) that one man (he sights action films of single heroes as his source of reasoning) can make the difference.  So, he leaves the U.S. to hunt down the elusive Osama.  Besides his ridiculous unfunny exploits and journey, he comes up with a few superfluous points of truth that any audience with an iota of common sense are already familiar with.  Example: one fifth of the world is Muslim; finding Osama will not end the war on terrorism; Muslims are also human beings.

The film begins with an animated Osama doing a rap routine.  Spurlock himself dresses in Arab garb (really annoying here) in many instances trying to blend in with the locals in order to ask questions on Osama’s whereabouts.  The problem here is that the audience knows from the very beginning that the search is a total sham as well as where Spurlock’s film is heading.  He journeys to quite a few places like Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.  But what can never be sure of how much of the film is truth or setup?  For one is it is really true that Spurlock only just found out about his wife’s pregnancy before

Spurlock’s pseudo-documentary is neither eye-opening (nothing seen here in this film that is not seen elsewhere) nor remotely funny.  His repetitiveness shows after the first half hour.  Even the in your face animation should be limited in its use to illustrate the film’s points.  Spurlock is more interested in making a quick buck for his movie that in revealing certain truths that might make the world a better place to live it.  And it clearly shows.  Leave the Spurlock films for the television that can be turned off.