Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

bert-114 The title was a misnomer. I expected this documentary to be a politically charged picture with an anti-PMC slant -- on the contrary, it is a well-balanced documentary which is very informative. It is an introduction to the PMC world and explains the beginnings of it in Africa, and the current explosion of contracting in Iraq.It has no political slant to the left or the right, it does not make any assumptions, nor does it try to tie anything up to some large plot like many of the other post-911 political documentaries. It just states facts and interviews people who know what they are talking about.Very much recommended to anyone who remotely cares about what goes on around them, regardless of political affiliation.

Patrique Malaise I saw this documentary thinking that it would be biased one way or the other. I was pleasantly surprised to see it be neither a Michael Moore hack job or a Fox News fluff piece.For the most part it lets present and former mercenaries talk for themselves. The "experts" that are interviewed are not trying to comment on the subject but rather to explain it. Very refreshing indeed. In todays world of highly polarized politics it was great to see a film on this subject, which is for the most part about Iraq, be so even handed.The extras on the DVD are also well worth a look through. It's well worth the purchase.

Ishallwearpurple This is a review of the DVD. Shadow Company is a compelling film about men for hire who go into very dangerous places in the world to act as security agents for companies; to fight for governments; or whoever hires them. They are apolitical and are seemingly very good at what they do. The film takes no sides, doesn't pull any punches, shows us just how dangerous and bloody fighting in todays troubled hot spots is.Some graphic footage of burning bodies may be disturbing but it did happen. There are about 20,000 mercenaries in Iraq at present. Others are in African countries where there is civil war. Some are in Afghanistan; or any place that is dangerous and there is need for men-with-guns; i.e. security agents.Film-makers Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque were successful in getting the complete cooperation and trust of the mercenaries, called private security contractors, and through interviews and following along, we have a look at their day. Two of them, (Slavko Itic & Corbus Claassens) are articulate and matter-of-fact about the way things are in their jobs. The most horrific details are recounted with no histrionics. It is just the way it is. The extras are a great watch too. One long interview with Claassens recounts a hilarious story about a blow up doll. It's odd and a little scary. If the the guy in their company was just kidding, it would be one thing. But it sounded like he actually had conversations and 'fights' with his 'wife.' Yes, folks, he married his 'doll.' I won't spoil the rest of the story by further comment, but it is seriously strange - and very funny.The commentary by Nick and his partner, Jason, gives some more insight into what they did and why they picked certain parts and places to film . And how a lot of the film is shot in natural light and why.All in all I am so glad I had a 'headsup' on this film. Interesting subject which needs to be explored. Interesting people I for one would never have known about. Thought provoking. I rated it 10/10.

dominikagirl Being a non-military globally conscientious girl (who oft would even name herself a pacifist), I would have to say that this documentary was one of the biggest eye openers for me in the last few years. All the stereotypes, even the limited ones I had, were explored, dissected and supported, contested and investigated in the way you expect an objective documentary to be. The voices, both supportive and opposing, both disturbing and considerate, historical and modern... all were incontestably honest and articulated in an engaging way. The format of the documentary is one the defies convention - I hesitated to use Terrentino's name because only the unexpected dynamics of the format can be compared to him: things are presented in a way that you don't expect and you are left with questions to ponder yourself rather than a bunch of answers that settle the issue for you. This is a documentary that empowers the audience and for some people this is an unexpected and thrilling OR scary concept.I was asked to travel to Sierra Leone to do still photography for this project but other than that, I had no involvement of the story building process. I am amazed to see how each of the people they interviewed, and the facts they accumulated, have been presented in the final product in a way that is engaging and informative. No wonder Edward Zwyck was a fan of this doc - it's a rare example of what the documentary format can be used for.