The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 19, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Errol Morris may have been put on earth to make The Fog of War, a stunning portrait of Robert S. McNamara that closes a year of outstanding nonfiction movies on a high note. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It will knock you for a loop like no other movie this year. Read full review
100
TimeRichard Corliss
This is spellbinding reality cinema about duplicity and, worse, ignorance at the highest level. Read full review
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Errol Morris delivers a compelling, thoughtful and entirely involving documentary in The Fog of War. Read full review
80
Film ThreatBob Westal
Presents us with a man who simply cannot be easily categorized, even when he looks us straight in the eye. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Revisits the past with an eye on the present and future, hoping as McNamara does that his "lessons" are instructive and might keep history from repeating itself. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
No matter what your opinion of McNamara, The Fog of War is a chastening experience. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyMarc Cooper
Morris is a more talented filmmaker than he is an interviewer. Mean-while, McNamara is a subject so complex and so rich in nuance that he requires no cinematic embellishment. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
McNamara has a reputation for being intelligent and belligerent. The Fog of War validates the former characteristic, but not necessarily the latter. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Never one to shy away from challenges, Morris has come up with one of the best documentaries of this or any year. Read full review
100
The New York TimesStephen Holden
If there's one movie that ought to be studied by military and civilian leaders around the world at this treacherous historical moment, it is The Fog of War, Errol Morris's sober, beautifully edited documentary portrait of the former United States defense secretary Robert S. McNamara. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The filmmaking is meticulous and the ideas are endlessly thought-provoking. Read full review
100
USA TodayMike Clark
Though the movie may not change many minds about McNamara, it richly humanizes him, a valuable feat atop all the fascinating reflection. Read full review
80
SalonCharles Taylor
No one could have held The Fog of War wanting if Morris had concluded that it's impossible to get all the way to the bottom of Robert McNamara. But explicating an enigma is not the same thing as blurring it with artistic ambitions. The thickest fog in this documentary has been conjured not by McNamara, but by Errol Morris. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Haunting, troubling documentary.
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The film's greatest strength is its inadvertent timeliness. Parallels between LBJ's Vietnam policy and George W. Bush's Iraq policy go off in your head like flares. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
An extraordinary documentary about an extraordinary man that brings to urgent life potentially dry questions of American foreign policy in the 1960s. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
They're answers that will either earn your respect, or further damn him as the architect of an American nightmare. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Arguably the most conventional documentary made by Errol Morris and, perhaps equally surprising, it displays sympathy toward its subject. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
McNamara fits perfectly into Morris's canon: He tells a story that knocks you right off your feet. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
More often McNamara comes across as Exhibit A in Morris's latest metaphysical creepshow. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Probing... haunting. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The film is watchable as well as informative...But I wish I had a better notion of what story he's trying to tell. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
McNamara speaks concisely and forcibly, rarely searching for a word, and he is not reciting boilerplate and old sound bites; there is the uncanny sensation that he is thinking as he speaks. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The film's central drama is not between the former secretary and the filmmaker. It's between McNamara and history. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Masterful documentary. Read full review
100
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
Brilliant. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
McNamara finally gets to tell his side of the story -- and is somewhat humanized in the process -- but still comes off looking like a tragic character living in a state of denial. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The S in Robert S. McNamara stands for Strange, which is an unusual middle name and perhaps an apt description of the man at the centre of documentary filmmaker Errol Morris's gripping character study, The Fog of War. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
McNamara, a robust conversationalist, is so lively that he bursts out of what is essentially a talking-head documentary. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The most compelling -- and horrifying -- portion of the film, which interweaves archival footage and stylish graphics with the interview segments, centers on the firebombing of Japan during World War II. Read full review
100
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
In the end, The Fog of War offers a couple of hours of brilliant clarity amid the noise and chaos. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A chilling reminder of the precipice the world stands on nowadays, from a man who looked over the edge more than once. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
McNamara's too mentally adroit to let Morris pin blame or guilt on him, and the director's not interested in shaming him. Read full review
80
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
Simultaneously offers priceless insight into the nation's past and a worrisome take on the future. Read full review
100
EmpireDavid Hughes
The film's status as must-see documentary of the year is indisputable. Read full review
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