In 2004's Super Size Me, director Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's "food" three times a day for a month, and recorded the rapid deterioration of his mental and physical state, ultimately earning an Oscar nomination for his trouble. That great documentary cemented Spurlock's reputation as a worthy heir to the consumer advocacy-interested, loud mouthed righteousness of his peer and contemporary, Michael Moore. It also made him a major star of the indie doco community.

Four years on, Spurlock has returned to the spotlight with the lacklustre, rather conflicted Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?, which hardly holds a candle to his previous film. Kicking off with a rather disingenuous concept that he must protect his unborn child from harm by finding the titular terrorist leader, Spurlock leads us on a travelogue through Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan before returning home for the birth of his son. The title's question is oft repeated and referenced - and is a strong marketing tool - but at no point does Spurlock or the audience believe that it is possible, advisable or important to find Bin Laden. He, like the rest of the world, has long realised that Al Qaeda's number one is somewhere between an apparition and a scapegoat. Preaching otherwise to a camera - especially with a wink and a nudge - is simply patronising.

Luckily, as a travelogue, the doco is superb, recording dozens of vox pop opinions from Middle Easterners covering all points of the political spectrum. Those interviews - as well as Spurlock's not insubstantial personal charisma - largely make up for the fact that, as a political statement, Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? is an empty promise.