{"id":44323,"date":"2025-12-16T10:43:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T15:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=44323"},"modified":"2025-12-16T10:49:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T15:49:29","slug":"how-rob-reiners-political-activism-led-to-shock-and-awe-his-devastating-film-about-the-u-s-invasion-of-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=44323","title":{"rendered":"

How Rob Reiner\u2019s political activism led to “Shock and Awe”, his devastating film about the U.S. invasion of Iraq.<\/b><\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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American director\u00a0Rob Reiner<\/a>, who was\u00a0found dead<\/a>\u00a0in his LA home on Sunday, was best known for defining moments in pop culture cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. However, his filmography also reflects a growing political consciousness \u2013 one that culminated in\u00a0Shock and Awe<\/i><\/a>, his exploration of the US invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n

In the 2017 drama, which screened at Dubai International Film Festival, Reiner told the true story of a team of US media company Knight Ridder reporters who, in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, found evidence of falsified intelligence about weapons of mass destruction. However, their findings were largely ignored by major media outlets in a country swept by nationalist sentiment post 9\/11.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make this movie right after the invasion of Iraq,\u201d\u00a0Reiner told\u00a0The National<\/i><\/a> in August 2018. \u201cBut I don’t think I could have done that. You had to be so careful around that time, as the national mood was a strange one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a very tough reckoning to realise that America was wrong. But this film is all about the importance of the truth and getting the truth out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drama starred Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, James Marsden, Milla Jovovich and Jessica Biel, alongside Reiner, who played an editor.<\/p>\n

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