The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers 2009

David Fear, Time Out: His "treason" gave credence to ending the war, helped push a corrupt administration toward its ruin and underlined the importance of the First Amendment. Rickety doc or not, Ellsberg deserves every ounce of hero worship he gets here. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: So many people risked their livelihoods to put the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers out there -- although its most tangible result was the creation of Nixon's plumbers unit. We have not celebrated Daniel Ellsberg enough. Let's begin. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: If you lived through it, you'll be fascinated. If not, it still does a skillful job of creating a convincing and even suspenseful narrative from this history. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Dangerous Man does a serviceable job of mapping out the particulars of his struggle, but the definitive cinematic version of his too-strange-for-fiction story has yet to be made. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: This is meaty, dramatic stuff - see this movie with your teenagers and watch their jaws hit the floor -- and the filmmakers cannily use President Nixon's secret tapes to bolster their case... Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: Fortunately, the staunchly committed and controversial Ellsberg, now 78, is still around to tell his history-making tale, and he lends the film gravitas as both its persuasive narrator and primary talking head. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Ehrlich and Goldsmith carve out their own little place in the canon by focusing on the ethical journey of one man who refused to shrug off his own responsibility for the war and atoned for it with a seismic act of civil disobedience. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: For those who know the story, Most Dangerous Man puts it in fresh perspective. If you don't, there's probably not a better way to discover it. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: The movie is an act of hero worship, but it inadvertently suggests that, without a necessary touch of grandiosity, Ellsberg might never have acted as bravely as he did. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: For those who lived through the turmoil of Vietnam, and for the generations that have come since, the film is an important document in its own right. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is a skillful, well-made film, although, since Ellsberg is the narrator, it doesn't probe him very deeply. We see his version of himself. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: In another time and culture, a story on this scale would deserve an opera. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This isn't a dusty chapter of ancient history, but a fresh, exciting story. Ellsberg, who worked as a defense analyst in the government-funded Rand Corp., emerges as a complex and contradictory character. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The film is also an exciting cloak-and-dagger thriller. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Efficiently wedding archival footage to contemporary interviews, co-directors Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith take a chronological approach to Ellsberg's journey of courage. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: It's a professional job, standing above the crowd of politico documentaries that proliferate like kudzu over arthouse screens. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: It pulses with the suspense and momentum of a sleek thriller -- a wily caper flick that just happens to revolve around one of the most crucial chapters in recent American history. Read more