'Fog' very clear and educational

The old story goes that when Robert S. McNamara, then the president of Ford Motor Company, was asked by newly elected President John F. Kennedy to join the Cabinet, McNamara was hesitant because he was unsure he had the credentials.\nKennedy responded, with typically dry Kennedy humor, he didn't think there was a school for presidents either.\nBut McNamara stood up, when asked by his government to serve, and became the Secretary of Defense for Kennedy and later Lyndon Johnson. He served during perhaps one of the most tumultuous times in the Defense Department's history. McNamara's own version of the seven years he served is captured by Errol Morris in an award-winning documentary called "The Fog of War."\nThe concept may seem boring and the film seems to run a little long, but McNamara's story is full of conflict and struggle. History has been mostly harsh to him, praising him as the "Wiz Kid" sent to save Ford then slamming him as the "architect" of the Vietnam War.\n"The Fog of War" is a combination of archival clips, showing a young McNamara at press conferences or touring Vietnam, and a current conversation with McNamara who was 85-years-old when interviewed, but still has the same or more youthful energy than he did in the old footage. When talking to McNamara, Morris used a device called the "Interrotron," which allows him and his subject to look into each other's eyes while also looking directly into the camera lens. \nIt's that one-on-one feeling which gives the film its real force and impact. Some critics have suggested the current administration would benefit from watching a film like this, and I would agree. Anyone can benefit from watching this film and learning from a wise man. (Morris has subtitled this film "Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert McNamara," and loosely breaks up the movie into 11 segments, each one beginning with a simple truism.)\nThe film isn't trying to resolve the issues around McNamara's tenure. It's trying to understand how a person can work under such pressure with the threat of failure so imminent and still perform well. If there's one overlapping theme here, it's humans are fallible and make mistakes, and regular people need to be reminded of that just as much as someone high in the government. \nMcNamara looks back and regrets things during his stint as defense secretary; but he doesn't write them off and he doesn't dwell on them. He's very human, and this alone makes "The Fog of War" very engaging.