Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2009
The Most Dangerous Man in America
Buy The Most Dangerous Man in America now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers' is a 2009 documentary film directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith. The film follows Daniel Ellsberg and explores the events leading up to the 1971 publication of the 'Pentagon Papers', which exposed the top-secret military history of the United States' involvement in Vietnam.
The film was shown on the PBS series 'POV' in 2010, for which it earned a Peabody Award.[http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/pov-the-most-dangerous-man-in-america-daniel-ellsberg-and-the-pentagon-pape 70th Annual Peabody Awards], May 2011.
Reception
Critical response
In a review for 'The New York Times', Mike Hale writes that the film "conscientiously notes the viewpoints of those who believe that Mr. Ellsberg betrayed his country or his former colleagues at the Defense Department" and the filmmakers "concentrate on their portrait of Mr. Ellsberg, who emerges as a complex and difficult man whose principles, whether you agree with them or not, cant be denied." Roger Ebert writes, "It is a skillful, well-made film, although, since Ellsberg is the narrator, it doesn't probe him very deeply. We see his version of himself."Mick LaSalle writes in a review for 'The San Francisco Chronicle', "The film is packed with stories, from numerous talking heads, including Ellsberg. A wealth of information is conveyed with complete clarity." In a review for 'The Journal of American History', Stephen J. Whitfield notes "the most dangerous man in America" was a moniker "bestowed by Henry Kissinger, who had admired his Harvard University colleague's pioneering work in decision theory. But the film commits the unpardonable sin of leaving the title unexplained."
In a review for 'NPR', Mark Jenkins writes that the filmmakers "sometimes rely on Errol Morris-style reconstructions of events, which are less deft than Morris'. Distractingly, they also use sketchy animation for a few sequences." In a review for 'Variety', Ronnie Scheib writes,"While a present-day Ellsberg complains that the massive number of bombs dropped on Vietnam, which he repeatedly mentioned in press conferences back then, was never duly reported, Ehrlich and Goldsmith redress that silence with a bombardment of newsreel images of aerial destruction."
'The Most Dangerous Man in America' has an approval rating of 96% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 7.84/10. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Awards and nominations
Nominated*Academy Award 2010 – Best Documentary Feature
Won
'International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam'
*Special Jury Award
'Palm Springs International Film Festival'
*Audience Award Best Documentary
'National Board of Review, USA'
*Freedom of Expression Award
'Mill Valley Film Festival, USA'
*Audience Award Best Documentary
'San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, USA'
*Best In Fest
'Boulder International Film Festival, USA'
*Best Feature Documentary
'It's All True Film Festival, Brazil'
*Audience Award Best Documentary
'Fresno Film Festival, USA'
*Audience Award Best Documentary
'Sydney Film Festival, Australia'
*Best Documentary
'Mendocino Film Festival, USA'
*Audience Choice Award Co-Winner
'Docaviv Film Festival, Israel'
*Special Jury Mention
'Traverse City Film Festival, USA'
*Audience Award Best Documentary
'American Historical Association, USA'
*John O'Connor Film Award
'History Makers Award, USA'
*Best History Production
'Organization of American Historians, USA'
*Erik Barnouw Award
See also
* 'The Pentagon Papers' (2003 film)
* 'The Post' (2017 film)
References
Buy The Most Dangerous Man in America now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2009