STUDIO: Sony
RELEASE DATE: October 14, 2008
WRITTEN BY: Errol Morris
DIRECTED BY: Errol Morris
FEATURES: Commentary With Director Errol Morris
9 Additional Scenes
Nearly 2 Hours Of New Interview Footage
Berlin Panel Discussion
Berlin Press Conference
Los Angeles Premiere Q&A With Errol Morris

Errol Morris is a personal icon of mine. Getting to sit in a chair next to him and discuss politics, torture, and his latest movie, Standard Operating Procedure, is a highlight of not just my career, but my life. The man changed the form of documentary filmmakers as much as anyone who ever picked up a camera and inspired not just a generation but all of those that will come after it. I make my affection for movies like Thin Blue Line, Fast, Cheap & Out of Control, Mr, Death, and the unbelievable Fog of War known because you should be aware that the following criticism comes not just from a fan of the man, but an adoring one at that - Standard Operating Procedure just doesn't quite work. It's a film about some of the most famous photographs in history, ones that arguably changed the entire world's perception of not just the war but the American soldier in general. Morris says in his excellent commentary on the film that Standard Operating Procedure is his attempt to discover something unknown about those famous photographs. But does he? SOP is an investigation about an ongoing crime and, therefore, incomplete.

As Morris says, "This movie is primarily about photographs." What exactly do those photographs reveal? And what do they conceal? One of Morris' many strengths is his desire to use film to learn, to discover something about humanity. So, what do we learn in SOP? Not enough. Yes, Abu Ghraib is an incredibly complex situation, much more so than the sound bites on Fox News would have you believe. There are issues of scapegoating, cover-ups, and general rules of torture that need to be discussed, but SOP frustrates me to no end and I've seen it twice now. It's expertly made but, at the same time, I feel like it's as myopic as the photographs themselves. It goes too far in the other direction, trying to humanize what these people did at Abu Ghraib. I'm sorry, but there are some tough questions that need to be asked in a film like SOP that simply aren't. Morris goes too far to suggest that you or I would have done the same thing as Lyndie England. I don't believe that's true and I believe there's some culpability that should be addressed beyond "they were following orders". It's also interesting that Morris chose to make Standard Operating Procedure at a time when the story is still being told with one of the main culprits still in jail and unable to talk. Imagine filming Fog of War in the middle of the Vietnam conflict. It would have been a completely different film. I'd love to see Morris go back to this story in ten or twenty years. It will be a stronger film with hindsight. Lyndie England, Errol Morris, the world doesn't really know what happened there and with the conflict still going on, it seems like it would have been more interesting to film SOP in a few years.

Now, having said all of that, every single documentary fan should still pick up Standard Operating Procedure on Blu-Ray. It's a must-own. Not only should you see every movie that Errol Morris makes, even ones that go a little off like I believe SOP does, but the man is one of the most interesting commentary speakers that you will ever hear. In fact, I almost like watching SOP with the Morris track on more than the movie itself. Morris illuminates things about the film, what happened at Abu Ghraib, and what he was trying to accomplish that the movie doesn't quite do on its own. The Blu-Ray disc for Standard Operating Procedure also includes a very interesting, 45-minute panel discussion on standard operating procedure that was inspired by the movie. There are 2 hours of interview footage that offer an interesting window into how a filmmaker like Morris assembles his movies. Finally, the Blu-Ray of SOP includes 9 additional scenes. This is what I love about covering films on the home market. A movie like Standard Operating Procedure that I didn't feel was deep enough in theaters can be enriched with commentaries and special features. It's a great presentation for an amazing filmmaker.