Based on photographs and videos taken by soldiers of tortured terrorist suspects (most of which are probably innocent) in Abu Graib prison, documentarist Error Morris (THE THIN BLUE LINE and THE FOG OF WAR being his most famous films) creates a horrifying picture of military abuse.  He interviews the soldiers in the shots (most of which were charged and sentenced) offering their views and reasons of why the deeds occurred.  Needless to say, this is disturbing stuff.  A military expert classifies each shot as either a criminal act or standard operating procedure (SOP) of the film’s title. 

SOP will inevitably be compared with this year’s Oscar documentary feature TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE.  The latter, clearly the better film covers more ground while with the issues in SOP forming a part of its agenda.  Still Morris’ film is neatly packed, succeeds in its mission of informing and shocking the world of the Abu Graib horrors and still packs quite the punch.