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Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

No End in Sight (2007) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Extremely well-made documentary taking a look at the many blunders made by the Bush administration during the Iraq invasion and the years after wards. Many government officials involved in some of the decisions are interviewed and it's clear that all of them are embarrassed by the events that happened. Many soldiers on the ground are also interviewed and have questions on why they were better protected when they were dropped into bad situations. NO END IN SIGHT is a very strong, intelligent and well thought out documentary that works on so many levels but at the same time I must say that I wish it hadn't been so one-sided and instead of just telling one story I wish they would have gathered someone from the other side. The evidence shown in this documentary makes it clear that there were so many mistakes made but I wish the filmmakers had gathered someone, or anyone, to try and explain why these decisions were made. Yes, the documentary tells us that the major players refused to be interviewed but I'm sure there were people below them that would have tried to explain the actions. With that said, what we do get here is pretty impressive stuff and this isn't your typical talking heads documentary where people just give brief statements that the director then edits together to tell his story. I was really impressed with how much detail was given to all the answers that were given and I was surprised to see how many stories were told about issues that went wrong. We start off with stuff about the lack of Marshall Law and how not stopping the looting early on led to many bigger issues down the road. We hear about various historic locations that were allowed to be destroyed, the U.S. soldiers not being allowed to do their jobs safely and things just keep getting worse as it appears no one was paying attention. NO END IN SIGHT really does a great job at showing it's case and those who support its cause will be entertained and saddened.

This documentary focuses on the post invasion mistakes made by the administration and problems of occupation and factors leading up to the insurgency.It does a great job of putting together what has happened since the invasion of Iraq. I think it would have been hard to get a clear picture from newspapers and TV news. This is not a Michael Moore style documentary - it's less in your face but no less effective. There are interviews with many relevant people from the administration and Iraqis as well.A couple of small faults. A lot of information is given very fast. It's a bit hard to remember who is who. They should have left the names and designations of the persons a bit longer on the screen when the person is talking. A bit more background on the people interviewed might have helped the viewer understand what they are trying to put forth.A very well done documentary that should be seen by all. Makes one want to find out more about the situation right now in Iraq and what has happened to the people who screwed up the occupation. Also it makes one wonder what will happen to Egypt and Tunisia etc when power is being transferred to the new government.

When added all up, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and our current war in Iraq have likely inspired the greatest upsurge in film documentaries that has ever been seen in Hollywood. Whether they've been direct broadsides against Bush (FAHRENHEIT 9/11), the cynical manipulation of, and by, the media (any of Robert Greenwald's offerings), or entertainers slammed for speaking out against the war (SHUT UP AND SING), there have been some really thought-provoking and insightful films of this sort.Into this fray comes another great film of this kind, NO END IN SIGHT, a very sober and penetrating look by writer/producer/director Charles Ferguson as to how our Iraqi incursion, which was built by Bush and his supporters as a cakewalk, instead went south within a month of the invasion's commencement. Featuring interviews by many players who worked on the inside, including Richard Armitage, former deputy Secretary of State, this film shows the fundamental and obvious errors in judgment made by people in high places to not protect the most vital parts of Iraq as we were freeing it from the grasp of Saddam Hussein's thirty-five years of dictatorial rule. We're shown how Iraq's important museums, which once housed a great deal of the history of the birth of civilization, were either destroyed by American bombing or simply looted in the chaos that ensued. Just as embarrassing to watch is how large dumps of ammunition were left unguarded by our soldiers on the order of politicians and know-it-alls thousands of miles away from it all in Washington and allowed to be raided by all manner of insurgents, both foreign and Iraqi.Perhaps the least surprising thing about NO END IN SIGHT is the footage of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, and others showing both their arrogance and incompetence for Americans and the rest of the world to see written in boldtype all over their faces. But it's there to make the strongest point of the film: they thought they knew everything, and it turns out they knew nothing--or, worse, they didn't CARE that they knew nothing.Campbell Scott's sober narration, plus numerous interviews with soldiers who have been and in many cases continued serving in Iraq, sometimes for as many as six tours of duty, all add up to a particularly unsettling viewing experience. But this is an essential film, an absolutely important film for anyone with an interest in seeing this war come to some kind of resolution to understand the dozens upon dozens of mistakes which our government, in our name, has wrought in Iraq.

Documentaries on the war in Iraq are suddenly experiencing somewhat of an exponential growth and producing a very cluttered market place. Of course one aspect of this happening is that you get lots of weak ones along with the stronger one and, when it comes to picking them off the TV guide it is hard to know what is what. As a member of the choir on this subject, I have seen quite a few weak ones but also some good ones. No End In Sight enters this field as a very good if not brilliant entry that very much covers similar ground that was done by the better film "No Plan No Peace".However baring this in mind it is to the credit of the film and telling of the shock value of the material that this film still engaged me. Many of the contributors and clips I had seen several times in other films on similar subjects but yet this film still worked for me. The reason for this is because it structures its point pretty well, moving forward chronologically but also with the events broken down into headed sections. The straight telling carries it though and Ferguson has pulled together his contributions, clips and footage in such a way that it is hard to disagree with. I do not agree with some that dismiss this as biased – I just think sometimes it is hard to accept when you are wrong. Of course the film does do what Ferguson wants because he is writer and director but there is a reason why there are not many "so how great is Iraq going now huh?" films doing the rounds.The contributions are perhaps the usual faces but they are still used well and edited tightly to make the point. OK I did feel slightly sorry for Walter Slocombe but this was only a temporary feeling as Paul Hughes was used to cut under those in charge. Garner is as important and honest as ever while others are brought in to held build events and highlight weakness and failure throughout the planning (or rather lack of planning). The film deserves to be seen and it deserves credit for being able to pull this chaos and confusion together into a clear and concise summary that may well lean a certain way but perhaps understandably so. It is not as impressive a film as the BBC's No Plan No Peace, but it is still a well put together and effective documentary that is good enough to stand out from the very big crowd.