A Good American

A GOOD AMERICAN has all the elements of a great action film: dangerous secrets, espionage, corruption, war. But the scary part is that it's not an action film, it's a documentary. In 2001 America was attacked by terrorists. Most of us can recall exactly where we were when the Twin Towers came down on that September morning. But what if there had been a program in place that could have prevented such a tragic disaster? Sadly, there was. Designed by Bill Binney, ThinThread was a revolutionary surveillance program that was passed up by the National Security Agency, which was more concerned with money than protecting U.S. citizens. The plan they chose instead has yet to prove useful and has sparked controversy over its invasion of privacy for ordinary people. Even more troubling is that after Binney's program proved it would have foiled Bin Laden's plans, the NSA still refused to embrace it, choosing to keep its existence a secret. Thankfully, Friedrich Moser has uncovered the story in a documentary that is disturbing in subject matter, but stylish, elegant, and absolutely mesmerizing in its delivery. –E.F.