Review of Dirty Wars (2013) by Brett B — 02 Mar 2014

A captivating and dark documentary that attempts to make sense of where the "War on Terror" stands today. From the jump, it's an engrossing piece of work, an example of investigative journalism in film form, and the entire presentation is quite enthralling, even as it deals sometimes-depressing subject matter.

Stylistically, the documentary is superb; the footage has a great, cinematic look, and the whole thing is put together like a legitimate thriller. It's drenched in paranoia and mood, and it also has a narration that displays a weary quality not unlike voice-over you might find in a noir film.

That said, I do have one large-ish nitpick: the filmmaker (well, the writer/producer, at least) inserts himself right into the middle of the story, which is a documentary trope I usually hate. It's a device that I can partially overlook here, mostly because the material/subject matter itself is so strong.