Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 2004 Filmcritic.com

Noam Chomsky, toward the beginning of Manufacturing Consent, tells someone that he can't imagine why an audience would want to watch him talk for an hour. Heh, I wish! Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick give us nearly three full hours of Noam Noam Noam, largely interviews conducted directly with the famed linguist/political meddler, and outtakes from public interviews he gave throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the result of following him around the world. Unfortunately, putting Chomsky on a pulpit for three hours isn't really the best way to get his message across (a deep and thorough indictment of politics, the media, and corporate leadership). A little more context and some judicious editing could have given the film longer legs.

Rating

3.5 out of 5 Stars

  • Director: Mark Achbar, Peter Wintonick
  • Producer: Mark Achbar, Adam Symansky, Peter Wintonick
  • Screenwriter:
  • Stars: Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman, William F. Buckley, Kelvin Flook, Peter Jennings, Bill Moyers, Tom Wolfe
  • MPAA Rating: NR

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