Fog of War

A gripping documentary about former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, who held office during the regimes of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara actually spends much of the film on camera and providing voiceovers, revealing many shocking secrets and situations that were going on behind closed doors. He gives his account of times such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War, and what he’s got to say is often very shocking and sobering. Director Errol Morris uses stock footage coupled with the 85-year-old MacNamara’s on-screen presence to create something compelling and unnerving. Most shocking are a series of phone conversations between McNamara and Johnson, where the former president sounds like a broken, desperate man without a clue how to handle the mess he was in. It’s surprising how vital McNamara remains, and not-so surprising that he seems relatively guilt-free about the decisions he presided over.