Variety
After a long run of Bush-critical pics, it's heartening to see Gibney shift his target to the current administration, demonstrating an ongoing willingness to take on the Man, whoever that may be.
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We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
Documentary by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) detailing the creation of Julian Assange’s controversial whistleblowing website and its facilitation of the largest security breach in U.S. history.
Hailed by some as a free-speech hero and others as a traitor and terrorist, the enigmatic Assange's rise and fall are paralleled with those of Bradley Manning - the incarcerated U.S. soldier who downloaded hundreds of thousands of documents from classified military and diplomatic servers, revealing the behind-the-scenes workings of the government’s international diplomacy and military strategy.
Assange has dismissed the film, according to producer Jemima Khan "before seeing it". Assange tweeted "We Steal Secrets: an unethical and biased title in the context of pending criminal trials. It is the prosecution's claim and it is false."
2013Rating: M, War footage and coarse language130 minsUSA
Documentary
- Director:
- Alex Gibney ('Taxi to the Dark Side', 'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room', 'Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunster S. Thompson')
- Cast:
- Julian Assange
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks / Reviews
Time Out
You'll leave knowing slightly more about the who, what and why of WikiLeaks; you'll also wish the whole shebang didn't fell like such a tone-deaf data dump overall.
Full reviewThe New York Times
Reminds us that despite the potential of WikiLeaks, its project of truth and consequences remains treacherous and complicated in practice.
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The Guardian
Truth is an endangered species in this war, but Gibney's thoughtful movie suggests Manning might be its greatest casualty.
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Los Angeles Times
A sprawling, ambitious, major work -- a gripping exploration of power, personality, technology and the crushing weight that can come to bear on those who find themselves in its combined path.
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Hollywood Reporter
Alex Gibney's docu-portrait of WikiLeaks is both a juicy chronicle of recent history and a provocative reflection on the role of secrecy in an instant-access world.
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A.V. Club
Those looking for a summary of the WikiLeaks phenomenon-from the big leaks to the major shifts in public perception about Assange and his cause-won't find a more cleanly delineated version.
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