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A Good American

Play trailer Poster for A Good American 2015 1h 40m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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80% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Bill Binney, the former technical director of the NSA, discusses the NSA's decision to not use a cheap surveillance tool that would have predicted the 9/11 attacks.
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A Good American

Critics Reviews

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Ben Kenigsberg New York Times 02/02/2017
"A Good American" gets bogged down in details and personnel talk, but its subjects have an urgent narrative to tell. Go to Full Review
Nick Schager Variety 02/02/2017
A cautionary tale of a man who sought to protect the world with an ingenious creation that could be used for ill as well as good. Go to Full Review
Daphne Howland Village Voice 01/31/2017
Slow, quiet, and infuriating ... Go to Full Review
Ard Vijn ScreenAnarchy 01/10/2020
Nobody even speaks on behalf of the Trailblazer program, and as predictable as that probably is, it is very unsatisfying. Go to Full Review
Avi Offer NYC Movie Guru 02/05/2017
9.5/10
Prepare to be riveted by this equally enraging, terrifying and eye-opening documentary. Go to Full Review
MaryAnn Johanson Flick Filosopher 02/02/2017
4.5/5
Shocking, essential documentary looks at the shameful and avoidable failure of the NSA to prevent 9/11. All Americans (and everyone else) should see this film. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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06/07/2024 An eye opening documentary that is just another credible piece of data, along with the rest of human history, that outlines how greed almost always leaks into the public sector and therefore, we should never ever allow government to hold unlimited power over its citizens. Somehow that has become forgotten (again) See more 01/20/2019 Eye-opening and worth watching! A documentary that pulls back the curtains on the NSA. See more gareth d 10/09/2018 A really interesting look at ThinThread and some of the politics surrounding it. See more 09/17/2018 It Just Leaves You Wondering Why Risk America & The Free-World For Money?? But I Guess Sensible Smarts Is Often Overun By Money Linked To Power. It's So Troubling To See Such Things Play Out Time & Again. Executive Producer; Oliver Stone, Does Well To Present A Story From Those Whom Possibly Could Have Helped Prevent Things Going So Wrong..But Now That They're Ousted?? Where To From Here? It's Troubling & Disheartening All At Once. See more 05/07/2017 An important film. While some of the doc's content has been aired before, the inside experience has not been voiced in such a collective manner, with director Moser joining the dots just as Binney might connect his metadata. The misdemeanours and acts of folly pile up miserably; the villains of the piece - Hayden and his NSA stooges - decline to participate. Watch it! See more 02/05/2017 Damning testimony given by four interview subjects as to those responsible for taking away an ingenious system of information gathering, and installing one designed more for making profit for the N.S.A. than performing its function: to protect the U.S. public and U.S. interests, home and abroad. An infuriating watch. If even 1/10th of the testimony given was correct, those N.S.A. officials named (none of whom seemingly qualified to be in their positions, except for being part of the right cliques) should be tried for treason and other heinous crimes against the United States. Sickening, to say the least, to imagine what could have been, vs. what did happen. All because of disgusting greed. I hope those responsible rot. See more Read all reviews
A Good American

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Movie Info

Synopsis Bill Binney, the former technical director of the NSA, discusses the NSA's decision to not use a cheap surveillance tool that would have predicted the 9/11 attacks.
Director
Friedrich Moser
Producer
Friedrich Moser
Screenwriter
Friedrich Moser
Production Co
El Ride Productions, Blue+Green Communication
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 6, 2017
Runtime
1h 40m
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