Wormwood

Would've been a much higher rating if it was a 2 hour special. In fact my only complaints are the length of time, and that you can receive a PhD from Harvard for making collages. The actors were great and so was the production. Just needed to be more concise.

This needed to be edited down. I value the gradual unveiling of information in the order it was revealed historically. That is how it unfolded for one affected family.

There are way too many minutes of re-enactment, especially the rendering of details that the storytellers say are missing. At times, the re-enactment footage is re-used! Additional footage comes from productions of a Shakespeare tragedy. So it feels as if the Shakespeare OR the re-enactments would have been indulgence enough. Why feature both?

I was curious. This answered some questions. Wish it had done so more quickly.

First the director, of whom I am a fan, is to be congratulated for bringing this important story to the screen, a sad and terrifying chapter in our history that is larger than the Frank Olson story itself and even the MK Ultra program. That said, he seems to have been constrained by production values demanded by post-Breaking Bad audiences: technical and artistic overkill, relentless musical tension, and genre-bending, when the story itself is not only mind-boggling but well-documented and essential history that is little known or understood. The length (as has been noted) is far more than necessary to tell this story. A two hour movie or a two part series would have been a more effective use of the raw material. I am however pleased to see the Frank Olson story presented with great respect, although the documentary parts were, to me, far the most compelling than the drawn out contemplative sequences. (I loved seeing footage of the confessions of US military personnel, captured in Korea during the war, to having dropped bio-warfare bombs on North Korea counterposed to their recanting the same confessions when back in the US, suggesting that the brainwashing may not explain these confessions.) I do wonder if Netflix pressured the producers to come up with a six part series for their own reasons. The full history of US intelligence black operations since World War 2 could probably fill many decades of screen time, should our media choose to bring such history to the light of day. I would love to think that this is only the beginning of such an essential exploration.

Thank goodness for streaming - now you can also speed through hours of nonsense without missing anything. Very handy for a snail-paced maze of unnecessary "dramatisation". The story stands on its own; either make a 2 hr Hollywood special or don't, but don't degrade a powerful and valuable moment in history with mindless editing. Can't imagine why Netflix wants to throw away money - I'll take it?!

Love Errol Morris, but far too much time spent on dramatic non-enactments of men pensively staring at each other. An important story that needs to be told, and could have been told more effectively with half the screen time.