


Rather than deliver a standard interview doc, Morris intercuts his conversations with Olson and other key players in this story with filmed recreations of Olson’s last days on Earth, featuring a cast that includes Molly Parker, Tim Blake Nelson, Jimmi Simpson and Peter Sarsgaard as the doomed G-man. There is, of course, the true crime expose aspect that reminds one of “ The Thin Blue Line.” There is the history of covert ops and government secrets that is reminiscent of “ The Fog of War” and “ Standard Operating Procedure.” And then there’s Eric Olson, a perfect Morris interview subject with his high degree of obsessiveness, something the filmmaker has returned to over and over again in films like “ Gates of Heaven” and “Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control.” But “Wormwood” is not merely a Greatest Hits it’s a fascinating piece of filmmaking that challenges the form in new ways as it recalls themes its director has been interested in his entire career.

Morris has referred to “Wormwood” as his “everything bagel” in that it’s got elements of his entire career folded into this one epic, sprawling story of government-sponsored crime. Enter Errol Morris, one of the best documentary filmmakers of all time, and his daring, ambitious “Wormwood,” a 241-minute venture playing in select theaters (with an intermission) or in a six-episode version (which is the same just with credits and episode cuts) on Netflix as of today.
