The Most Dangerous Man in America

This Oscar-nominated documentary about famous whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, whose 1971 leak of the so-called Pentagon Papers led Henry Kissinger to denounce him as the most dangerous man in America, often takes on the tone of an espionage thriller. Ellsberg was a national security researcher and initial supporter of the Vietnam War, who was tasked with finding evidence of Viet Cong atrocities in order to bolster public support. Ellsberg eventually underwent a change of heart and surreptitiously furnished the media with the top-secret document that revealed how the government had long misled the American people about the conflict. Filmmakers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith draw on archival materials to sketch out the political firestorm caused by the revelations, after which they present a virtual biography of Ellsberg, interweaving testimony from Ellsberg and various family members together with dramatic reenactments. The account is told unabashedly from Ellsberg's perspective—other interviewees, such as the late Howard Zinn and John Dean, mostly sing his praises—but the film also spotlights additional heroes, including Alaska's Mike Gravel, who read portions of the papers in the Senate chamber, and the journalists who cleverly outmaneuvered the Nixon administration's efforts to suppress their publication. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)