VividSimon Simply Perfect

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

mstomaso This documentary features monologues and 'as-they-happen' scenes from Iraq. Particularly poignant stories and images of an Iraqi ex-patriot returning home to his family after several years in the USA; a few U.S. officers who are more honest and better informed about Iraq than the U.S. executive branch, and Iraqis who present opinions about the war that are far removed from anything the U.S. "free press" has been exposing American citizens to. Despite all of this excellent material, the film does not hold together very well as a film experience. It is an intelligent and journalistic but highly manipulative and modernistic documentary - powerful, but lacking some of the depth which characterizes more reflexive efforts.The director seems to be attempting to play the role of the Wizard of Oz - manipulating the the themes from behind the editing room curtain, but clearly wants you to believe or understand something about Iraq after you've seen the film. In this regard, the film does succeed - any thinking person will walk away from this enlightened - to an extent. My objection - and it is a small one - is that it is entirely unclear to me, after seeing this film, where the director stands and how much direction was used to produce what we see in the film. The selection of scenes and the exceptional clarity and eloquence of the monologues strongly suggests that a great deal of editing has taken place - but what were the criteria for selection of scenes, participants, etc? How much coaching and scripting occurred? Despite his limitations and obnoxious personality, at least Michael Moore lets you know that what you are about to see is his view, spun in his unique and quite biased direction.One of the best aspects of this film is that it does not insult the intelligence of "the American People" in the way we have become accustomed to being insulted by our present administration, nor does it, in any way, insult the intelligence of our military. The military personnel who participate in this film apparently understand what they are in Iraq to do much better than some of our leaders do. Or perhaps they are simply much more honest about it.

reladro No one here yet has commented much on the artistry of this film. It was adeptly shot, with a raw, on-the-fly style that caught fascinating shot after shot of Iraqi civilians and daily life (for techies, it was shot on a Panasonic 24P camera, and was almost certainly transfered to film). The editing and music are aggressive, maintaining an energy and attention span befitting the young filmmakers. Yet this is no MTV hack-job. The filmmakers catch the emotions of the film with simple beauty, such as the running storyline of Frank being reunited with his family, and showing their love, customs, and feelings. There's a smart balance between these moments and the ideological chaos that envelopes the family and the entire country.Others here have given good synopses of the film, so I won't add more to that other than to say the structure is intentionally meandering. The filmmakers in the "extras" section of the DVD discuss how they wanted to portray an emotional journey through Iraq from many perspectives, rather than to give a linear tale neatly guided by a voice-over. Don't look either for an intellectual dissection of the Iraqi situation from the filmmakers -- but expect a dozen or more dissections from those on-camera, ranging from idiotic (a U.S. soldier who thinks we're there just because we like to go to war and test weapons every few decades) to insightful. And the insights come from all sides, which tells us something we should have remembered from Vietnam: the real problem is not good vs. evil, but rather the clash of two civilizations with a complete lack of understanding for each other.

mannyfresh025 This Docu def held my attention i saw it last night with my 12 year old brother and he asked why are people so angry in Iraq but the truth is they have every right to be the globalization ( as the tank commander) describes it was the main reason why the united states entered Iraq because it was one of the main countries leaning towards "western civilization" and by converting Iraq into a "democracy" country the united states would hope other 3rd world countries will follow. i do believe Oil plays a major part in this "war" but not an essential role as to why we have so many troops maintain order.Iraqi officials are non cooperative in identifying terrorist cells because they maintain the balance in between invading cultures/countries or even individuals. as if there terrorist played the role of an authoritative official. there own Police. all in all a great film with many different perspectives.!!

Draconian Clown I was hoping to see some fairness in this film. By fairness, I mean that the film would offer at least some representation of the entire circumstance of the war in Iraq. However, this film depicted an entirely negative view and joins the majority of mass media in an agenda of political commentary (with some nice digs at globalization just in case their audience forgot that globalization - read: the USA - kills trees and hurts kittens). This commentary must, by definition, be anti-American regardless of circumstance and in that it loses it's credibility. The producers used the crowds to pursue that agenda. These crowds of people would act however they were supposed to act in front of any camera depending on what expectations were set; I say this with all due respect for a people whose country is being occupied by a foreign army. The purpose of this war may be lost to all but history but this movie is simply too awash in blue paint to be taken seriously by any other than the politically aligned. Nice timing on the Roman Empire connection!