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100% Positive Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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NPR Review by Marc Jenkins
The Most Dangerous Man in America lives up to its subject’s importance. It’s not only a fine introduction for viewers who don’t remember the Vietnam era, but also offers some revelations to those who thought they knew it reasonably well.
This fascinating subject matter allows the filmmakers to create a documentary that is at times reminiscent of Man on Wire and The Fog of War both in tone and filmmaking prowess, and it’s equally as entertaining and informative in telling the story about a man whose legacy in helping end the Vietnam…
As a history lesson, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith’s enthralling new documentary, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, is as solid as a textbook, stitching together old broadcast footage, first-person testimony, tart excerpts from the Nixon White House tapes, and noirish recreations into riveting, revelatory political drama.
With exceedingly well-crafted and intelligent interviews, deft, expertly-paced editing by Michael Chandler, Lawrence Lerew and Goldsmith, and a tightly written script by Lerew, Goldsmith, Ehrlich and Chandler, The Most Dangerous Man in America should be required viewing for every citizen in this nation. The film opens at the Cinema Village in New York this Friday.
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Arizona Reporter review by Harvey Karten
A gut-punching doc about the Vietnam War with obvious parallels to Iraq.
Associated Press: “Film tells story of America’s famous whistleblower”
Time Out NY, The Insider by Joshua Rothkopf
The essential new documentary. A profile that works as both a biographical portrait of a man marked by personal tragedy and a study in belated conscience Henry Kissinger unwittingly lends the doc its title.
CampusCircle review by Dov Rudnick
Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman
Gripping! Almost seismic drama. A classic whistleblower tale. THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN shows you that the Pentagon Papers was really the first chapter of Watergate, the trigger that drove Richard Nixon to take the law into his own hands.
Film Journal review by Chris Barsanti
Earnest, smart, informative. The filmmakers do an astounding job relating how Ellsberg brought the Pentagon Papers (which laid out in plain language how the Pentagon and White House had been lying through their teeth to the public about the war) to light. It’s a thrilling, journalistic drama, easily the equal of Deep Throat.
Filmweek Review on KUOR Public Radio – September 25, 2009 Show
LA Times review by Gary Goldstein
New York Magazine review by David Edelstein
Riveting! A straight-ahead, enthralling story of moral courage. This story changed the world. The movie offers one revelatory interview after another. CRITICS PICK!
New Yorker review by David Denby
Featuring Oval Office tapes of Richard Nixon responding to Ellsberg’s acts in his own ineffably vicious and low-minded style.
New York Post review by V.A. Musetto
The most exciting thriller I’ve seen in a while contains nary a car chase and doesn’t feature Will Smith. THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is as powerful as anything Hollywood can throw at us. The facts unroll with the same urgency as if they were brand-new. it was Henry Kissinger who called Ellsberg the most dangerous man in America. (Nixon, never one to mince words, said he was a son of a bitch.) Others would call Ellsberg a national hero.
New York Times review by Mike Hale
Detailed, clearly told, persuasive
Toronto Star
In telling the dramatic tale of Daniel Ellsberg’s conversion from war-monger to peacenik, and how he used his position in the Pentagon to leak information about lies fed to the public about the Vietnam War, this doc has the great advantage of having Ellsberg narrating. Sept. 11, 7:15 pm, Varsity; Sept. 13, 3:15 p.m., AMC; Sept. 16, 5:45 pm, AMC. MK
Shoe-in for Best Doc Nomination
Variety review by Ronnie Scheib
A Must-See! Crams a wealth of material into 90 minutes without losing clarity or momentum. Focuses on (Ellsberg’s) moral turnaround, which directly impacted history. A unique fusion of personal and social drama.
