A Review by Phil Calabro
2003, Metropolitan Films/MoveOn.org, Dir. Robert Greenwald - Starring David Albright, Robert Baer, Milton Bearden, Rand Beers, Bill Christison, David Corn, Philip Coyle, John Dean, and others
After the overwhelming success of Fahrenheit 9/11 and his latest documentary "Outfoxed", Robert Greenwald decided on making a 2004 release of his film "Uncovered" for show in independent theaters. But I sit here, striking myself in the head, watching this, and asking myself "Why?" The film is hardly a documentary, much less a film, as a runtime of 56 minutes, the edit job is as sloppy as it could be, and the information is just slapping you in the face saying "Duh".
We get the same old treatment with every other anti-Bush, anti-war documentary that comes out on the screen. We get the interviews with the top officials who don't work for the CIA anymore, not to mention the unending footage of every bit of the Iraqi war, yadda yadda yadda. It's nothing new at all, nothing that they make out to be a surprise, nothing BUT commentary and opinions rather than objective thinking. It's a rather boring entry from the left wing activist group MoveOn.org.
First off, Robert Greenwald has no editing skills. It looks as if the entire lot of footage was pieced together in an hour on a PC editing software, and the transitioning, which usually is treasured in a documentary, is trashed completely. The music that they chose (which is something that Michael Moore chose with a great taste) sounds like they robbed the stereo systems from worldwide dentists - nothing ambient or interesting like Philip Glass, etc. And if I have to see another montage of the members of the Bush administration saying the same things over and over again ("Saddam/al Qaeda/Saddam/al Qaeda...), I'm gonna throw a brick at the screen.
I will say first, that I respect the intent of "Uncovered", but in no way does it excuse the terrible quality of it. The film is a mess, and a very biased one-sided look. No other possibilities are spoken of, no other people from the right wing persuasion are given a speaking slot. It is literally shoving the information down your throat, excepting as a whole truth and what not. But what makes me angrier, is how no explanation is given by the "board of officials" on WHY the Iraq War was started. We go through how they detected it was a bunch of lies, then the cost of war, but never WHY the war. It's an unfinished piece of work.
I can not give "Uncovered" a good rating simply because it is a shoddy piece of work. The film is surpassed by Fahrenheit 9/11 - not in facts (and we've already seen how Moore has received criticism for that), but because it is badly executed and very haphazard in its narration. It's as persuasive as a 60 Minutes report, and have the timeslot to fit it. And that's the way it is.
1.5/4 stars
