Trailer for The Most Dangerous Man in America, which screened at the 2009 Vancouver International Film Festival.
Mingling archival footage, audio recordings (which capture Nixon at his most ruthless), animated sequences, dramatic re-enactments and interviews, Ehrlich and Goldsmith lend a keen investigative eye to a myriad of subjects. While the dramatic accounts of abuses of power and the role of the press prove duly fascinating, the intensely principled Ellsberg remains the heart and soul of this study. In recounting a tragic car crash from his childhood, he chillingly states that it left him understanding that authority figures could fall asleep at the wheel. In detailing Ellsberg's atonement for his own "shameful" lapse, this documentary becomes an inspirational tale of how inner peace can be achieved amidst the most harrowing circumstances.