Big Men

Released Mar 14, 2014

1h 39m

Documentary

List

100%

19 Reviews

Tomatometer

77%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Filmmaker Rachel Boynton journeys deep into the African oil industry of Ghana and Nigeria to expose the corruption surrounding it.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

This moral-economic drama plays out in backroom deals that Boynton records in all their stunning and at times shameless candor.

Rated: A-

Apr 4, 2014

Full Review

Chris Vognar

Dallas Morning News

The constant machinations can get a little confusing. Thankfully, Boynton, a dogged reporter, manages to keep the story on a human scale.

Rated: B+

Mar 20, 2014

Full Review

Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

Fanon would have said that eventually "the wretched of the earth" will wake up and learn their lesson. If this vivid, compassionate but unstinting film is any indication, Rachel Boynton is not convinced.

Mar 14, 2014

Full Review

Sarah Gopaul

Digital Journal

Big Men is a black gold exposé that goes behind closed doors with key players in the African oil industry, including government officials, foreign investors and local militants.

Oct 24, 2018

Full Review

Paul Chambers

Movie Chambers

Rated: A-

Nov 12, 2014

Full Review

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

US oil exploitation in Africa, stretching from Texas to Nigeria and Ghana, and how the director managed to infiltrate oil oligarch boardrooms and subversive jungle hideaways alike. Detailed and informative, but lacking analysis and a big perspective.

Apr 16, 2014

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les n

A depressingly familiar story, being reenacted again and again.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Big Men: 9 out of 10: A documentary focused on the acquisition and exploration of Ghanaian oil fields by Dallas based company Kosmos Energy. Big Men also follows the activities of a rebel group in nearby Nigeria that destroys pipelines to force the government to bring more funds to their region. There are a lot of moving parts that can make a documentary great. On paper, this should not be that good a documentary. The subject matter of an American oil exploration company negotiating with a government for oil leasing and exploration rights is not exactly sexy. The film also splits its story with trips to Nigeria for a somewhat unrelated narrative about poverty and rebel activity in the oil fields. The filming is decent with off-camera questions being shouted by the filmmaker but this is just a step above Dateline most of the time. Two things not just save this movie but lift it to one of the best documentaries I have seen this year. First is the access. Rachel Boynton has complete access to everyone. The oil guys invite her into their offices and homes, The Ghanian government is very open (At least for a while), and the rebels basically take her along while they do everything. It really is amazing. The second thing is this becomes a much more interesting story than either Rachel or the various participants could ever know. May you live in interesting times may be a Chinese curse but t is a documentary filmmakers blessing. Two quibbles and or questions though. I wish the film was a bit more upfront about the stock ownership of certain participants before it is revealed later in the film. Would have put some of the "crisis" in better perspective. Second is where the hell did all those rebels get all those ski masks in the middle of the Nigerian Jungle? This film has made me a Rachel Boynton fan for life. She may not be the most polished documentary maker but she is one of the best and one of the luckiest.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A not-unsurprising documentary - albeit a successful one - about corruption and its temptations, and a country facing a choice about the sort of nation it wants to be.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Eye opening look into big oil in Ghana-06/09/16

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

In Rachel Boynton's "Big Men", Nigerian journalist, Patrick Naagbanton, tells us with conviction: "Everyone is striving to be a big man or big woman. I mean there is a savage struggle for wealth." And this indeed proves to be true when it comes to speculating for big oil in (or from) Ghana, Nigeria and the USA. Although, I must add that the documentary "Big Men" is, categorically, about how (only) men tussle for recognition, power and money derived from the oil business. You will find a noticeable absence of women's perspectives (in this ubiquitous tale of resource speculation and inequality), except for the three lone voices of the filmmaker, a random local newscaster, and the then (2009-2011) minister of culture and attorney general of Ghana, Betty Mould-Idrissu. This does leave the viewer wondering, where have all the women gone in this "savage struggle" for black gold?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Superbly crafted documentary shot in evolution, real-time , yielding an insiders view on the economics, politics and complexity involved in the discovery and extraction of big Oil...and hence Big money...a must see

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

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Rachel Boynton

Director

Jeffrey Harris

Actor

Bill Hayes

Actor

Rachel Boynton

Writer

Mette Hoffman Meyer

Executive Producer

Brad Pitt

Executive Producer

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Rachel Boynton journeys deep into the African oil industry of Ghana and Nigeria to expose the corruption surrounding it.

Director: Rachel Boynton
Producer: Mette Hoffman Meyer, Brad Pitt, Jim Swartz
Screenwriter: Rachel Boynton
Distributor: Abramorama
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 14, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 4, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $43.2K
Runtime: 1h 39m

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