Shock and Awe (2018) * * *

Directed by:  Rob Reiner

Starring:  Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, Rob Reiner, Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Biel, Milla Jovovich, Richard Schiff

With Shock and Awe, Rob Reiner calls out the American media for not doing its job in the weeks and months before the start of the 2003 Iraq War.   The Bush administration fabricated stories of Iraq stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, reputable newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post published the stories with little if any confirmation of the truth, and thus the costly, deadly war was launched with considerable public and legislative support behind it.    The media basically acted as stenographers for the Bush administration press releases without doing its job as a check and balance for the executive branch.

The one news service which dared to publish stories which contradicted the administration's tall tale was Knight Ridder, which at its height published 32 newspapers in the United States.    Oddly, these papers opted to publish New York Times or Washington Post articles which backed up the Bush administration's story instead of questioning it.    Editor John Walcott (Reiner) is aghast that the Knight Ridder family of newspapers would avoid publishing his journalists' stories.    "When the New York Times issues an apology, you can publish that in your papers as well," Walcott tells the publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer.    A short time after the start of the Iraq War, when it became abundantly clear that there were no weapons of mass destruction, the New York Times indeed issued an apology for its shoddy journalism.    Not that it was much help to the troops who were already killed or wounded.

Shock and Awe is an angry film.    Sure, it is preachy at times, but it has something to preach about.   Those who chide the media these days for "fake news" (or news which paints Donald Trump in a bad light) would love the media of Shock and Awe.    The media took a nap on its responsibilities following 9/11 until well after the Iraq War was underway.    No one but Knight Ridder wanted to rock the boat, preferring to simply publish the spoon-fed official story instead of doing its due diligence to ensure the story is true.    Fifteen years after Bush prematurely stated, "Mission Accomplished", American soldiers are still losing their lives in Iraq, which has since plunged into the civil war the insiders who spoke to the Knight Ridder journalists expected as early as 2001.

Shock and Awe begins on 9/11, and shortly after, there were rumblings around Washington that Iraq was being targeted as the nation responsible for the attacks.     The story was being formulated that Saddam Hussein was providing aid and shelter to Al-Qaeda, but those who knew the Middle East know of Hussein's long-standing hatred for the terrorist organization and that such a connection was bunk.    No matter.    The Bush administration slowly whipped up support for an invasion, with help of a sleeping media and an uninformed American public who only wanted someone, anyone to pay for 9/11.    Attacking Iraq over 9/11 was akin to Moe slapping Larry, who in retaliation slaps Curly.

The movie does not make the case that Hussein was an innocent.    He was a cruel dictator who vanquished the lives of thousands of his people.    But, he had no connection to 9/11, which is something the Knight Ridder journalists led by Jonathan Landay (Harrleson) and Warren Strobel (Marsden) are uncovering.    This is not a popular story, and they must stand by in frustration as the popular version of events makes headlines, while the truth languishes.   There was no room for anything which would be viewed as "unpatriotic" in the days following 9/11.    Nor any room that might suggest Hussein had no part in those events. 

Shock and Awe does not operate as if it is occurring in the moment without the benefit of hindsight.   Reiner clearly wants to state his case and does so effectively.    A few subplots, such as Warren's budding romance with his neighbor (Biel) are extraneous, but the message hits home.    Because the Trump administration is a dumpster fire so far, it has become popular to somehow romanticize the George W. Bush administration as the good old days.    Reiner reminds us that this is not so, especially when, like Vietnam, thousands lost their lives over an unsubstantiated lie.    The families of lost loved ones would not be so quick to give Bush a pass.   Neither does Rob Reiner; and he asserts the media is every bit as culpable as Bush.    We can't say he's wrong.