Morgan Spurlock follows Super Size Me, his amiable, accessible, mischief-making exposé of the fast-food industry, by applying the same chummy, lowbrow approach to Islamic fundamentalism. Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? is socio-politics for dummies. It’s a staggeringly imbecilic approach to a serious subject. It manages to combine two things which are both at odds with the very ethos of documentary film-making: it’s mawkishly sentimental and fundamentally untrustworthy.

Spurlock’s futile mission is sparked when his girlfriend announces that she’s pregnant. But what kind of a world are they bringing this child into?

Spurlock decides to make America a better place by tracking down the world’s most wanted man, a potential encounter reimagined as a computer game. Spurlock and bin Laden’s avatars battle it out using turbans and moustaches. This sets the puerile tone for what follows. There are awkwardly staged interviews with the man or woman on the Middle Eastern street. Most are moderate in their views. But the clunky editing of the interviews highlights the potential mendacity of the film-making. His subjects say what he wants them to say.

Meanwhile, as he travels towards Pakistan, Spurlock is at pains to stress how “scary” it is. So scary, in fact, that when he gets near the region where bin Laden is thought to be hiding, he decides that “it’s not worth it” and hightails it back to New York.

12A, 93mins

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