Wonderful character development!

Boring

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

A documentarist, like any filmmaker, must convey a compelling story. Will Pascoe fails utterly in this effort, cobbling together uninspired snippets of Chomsky's wisdom from a visit to McMaster University in Hamilton. The footage is shot amateurishly and in video. Pascoe's only effort at cohering the fragments into a whole is by periodically throwing a vague title on the screen: "9-11," "Activism," "Truth."Lame.Compare this with documentaries like "The Corporation" or "The Fog of War" which create a narrative drawing material from interviews, stock footage, and filmed footage. In the end each delivers a poignant and insightful message deftly and intelligently.The only saving graces of the film are Chomsky's nonchalantly delivered upendings of historical dogma, and the fact that the running time is only 74 minutes.One of the more interesting passages was Chomsky's recounting of his experience with National Public Radio. He describes the conservative media as more accommodating to dissenting views, while NPR's liberal dogma strait-jackets its interviewees and dramatically limits its permitted messages. Yet another media outlet to be skeptical of.This documentary is for Noam Chomsky completists only.

First off, I agree with quite a bit that escapes Mr. Chomsky's mouth. His matter-of-fact delivery of interesting counterpoint is what makes the man a hit on the university campus circuit. He comes across likable, unassuming, pragmatic. He doesn't cater to the current political style (obnoxious bi-partisanship) and he sets his sights on the far left as well as the far right, chastising both, and for good reason.Unfortunately, the film itself is a dud. In fact, I would not even call this a documentary but rather just a collection of speeches. Watching "Rebel Without a Pause" is no different from watching a speaker on a 3am taped segment on CSPAN. There are no camera movements, no edits, no stylistic touches. There is no story, no narrative.Technically speaking, the production is strictly amateurish. Audio is terrible and inconsistent; sometimes we cannot hear Noam speak, other times we cannot hear the questions that are being posited by those in attendance. When Noam is speaking rarely are we allowed to see the reactions of the audience except when we are given a quick shot of his wife who apparently attends every one of his speeches and beams with pride every time we see her.I cannot recommend this film and would say that you're probably better off checking out his taped speeches on cassette or CD to listen to in the car.4 out of 10 stars...and I'm in a generous mood today.

This was an eye-opener for me. I just read Noam Chomsky's book about September 11th (called "9-11") and I was really interested in learning more. I saw this film on TV and I was amazed at the man's ability to recall facts and figures from articles, interviews, etc. He really is one of the smartest speakers in the world today. His wife, Carol actually steals the show as she explains what it's like to live with such a mind. Interesting tidbits from Carol was that Noam reads 6 newspapers a day and over 80 journals every year. The fact that he's really into his grandchildren and to meeting with students and talking about the issues made me see him more as a grandfather than a radical intellectual. The reflections and insights from others in the film are equally revealing. It becomes clear that Chomsky has influenced successive generations of people and still exerts enormous influence in the world today. There is so much interesting bits from Chomsky on so many issues I am hoping to either see it on TV again or in the theatres or on video so I can pay more attention to what he's talking about. Try and get it at your local video store that specializes in non-Hollywood blockbuster films and prepare to be challenged by Chomsky and his ideas.

This is a really interesting perspective on Noam Chomsky that I haven't seen before. Chomsky is one of the most out-spoken critics of the US and it's government and this film really showcases him in his element. The film is broken into chapters on various issues with Chomsky discussing the issues with students and other intellectuals. This I thought was a really interesting because I have never really seen Chomsky engaged in debate with other people. It's funny how he challenges people on their views and is patient enough to listen to others try and attack his in return. Even at his age, his mind is as sharp as a knife and you can see him formulating in his mind his rebuttal to others comments. And when he unleashes his response it's often to the point and accurate (and right). I read somewhere that "Rebel Without A Pause" is the title Bono from U2 gave Chomsky and it's very appropriate. Having not seen any one else with the encyclopedic knowledge of Chomsky, it's easy to see why his is one of the great minds of the 20th century. It's sad that more people don't hear his views these days as they are really on the mark. And with what looks like an Iraq war made on false pretenses (of which Chomsky already suggests in this film which was made BEFORE the war happened) you can see how he's still ahead of the game. This is a great film and if you can find it in a indy theatre or on tv you should check it out because you'll be learning a bit more about the world you live in in the process.