The Fog of War is a film in the style of other Errol Morris films such as Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, or The Thin Blue Line. It's certainly a well-made film and it will leave you scratching your head when you finish. It's ultimately up to you to figure out what lessons you wish to draw from the movie. While Morris shows thematic road signs, he doesn't always present an overt agenda or strong point of view (though you will come to some conclusions). Certainly, Errol Morris has a strong agenda when he talks outside of his own documentaries.
As others have mentioned, the 11-lesson structure seems contrived since many items talked about by McNamara don't fit neatly into any of the categories and sometimes don't support the points supposedly being talked about. It's unclear whether these 11 lessons are being imposed on the film by Errol Morris in order to structure the film, or if McNamara has stated these 11 points somewhere else, and Morris is trying to constrain the film to fit them. We're not really given any context to decide who has come up with these points. Whether based on Morris' or McNamara's ideas, these eleven lessons seem artificial to the interview taking place. I actually found them distracting rather than particularly enlightening because they felt intellectually imposed rather than fitting any emotional or intuitive needs.
This is a worthwhile film to see because it gives glimpses into McNamara as a complex man, and to a lesser extent into the times in which decisions about war have been made. It is also a somewhat bothersome film since the viewers don't come out with any particularly clear conclusions about certain things brought up in the film. Is McNamara despicable and responsible for many unnecessary deaths? Did he actually try to moderate LBJ with respect to Viet Nam? Who really made which decisions? The viewer never gets particularly clear answers to these issues. Many things are ambiguous and unclear and Errol Morris doesn't give any easy answers, either, since his subject wont. The movie doesn't shy away from the ambiguity but simply shows it on these issues. McNamara clearly doesn't want to give a straightforward answer to certain questions or to explain certain issues.
Aside from the ambiguity, there are certain things that become very clear in the film: McNamara is brilliant, analytical and interesting; he is loyal and emotional (you see this when he talks about JFK's death and being fired by LBJ); many things that happened in WWII against Japan were terrible; war is impossible to predict and control once it starts; other resolutions to a problem besides war are preferable.
Overall, I give this movie an 8/10 since it's very good, but flawed in some ways (notably the imposed 11-lesson structure). The music by Phillip Glass generally works nicely and adds to the experience.
On another note, Errol Morris' style sometimes rubs me the wrong way since he throws in a lot of visual metaphors which sometimes seem unsubtle, lacking in emotional tone, or insight. I find myself distracted by his style rather than really focusing on what is being said. Other people may not feel this way about his films since it's probably a matter of taste and style. Whether you like or dislike the signature style you will run across it in all of his films.
As others have mentioned, the 11-lesson structure seems contrived since many items talked about by McNamara don't fit neatly into any of the categories and sometimes don't support the points supposedly being talked about. It's unclear whether these 11 lessons are being imposed on the film by Errol Morris in order to structure the film, or if McNamara has stated these 11 points somewhere else, and Morris is trying to constrain the film to fit them. We're not really given any context to decide who has come up with these points. Whether based on Morris' or McNamara's ideas, these eleven lessons seem artificial to the interview taking place. I actually found them distracting rather than particularly enlightening because they felt intellectually imposed rather than fitting any emotional or intuitive needs.
This is a worthwhile film to see because it gives glimpses into McNamara as a complex man, and to a lesser extent into the times in which decisions about war have been made. It is also a somewhat bothersome film since the viewers don't come out with any particularly clear conclusions about certain things brought up in the film. Is McNamara despicable and responsible for many unnecessary deaths? Did he actually try to moderate LBJ with respect to Viet Nam? Who really made which decisions? The viewer never gets particularly clear answers to these issues. Many things are ambiguous and unclear and Errol Morris doesn't give any easy answers, either, since his subject wont. The movie doesn't shy away from the ambiguity but simply shows it on these issues. McNamara clearly doesn't want to give a straightforward answer to certain questions or to explain certain issues.
Aside from the ambiguity, there are certain things that become very clear in the film: McNamara is brilliant, analytical and interesting; he is loyal and emotional (you see this when he talks about JFK's death and being fired by LBJ); many things that happened in WWII against Japan were terrible; war is impossible to predict and control once it starts; other resolutions to a problem besides war are preferable.
Overall, I give this movie an 8/10 since it's very good, but flawed in some ways (notably the imposed 11-lesson structure). The music by Phillip Glass generally works nicely and adds to the experience.
On another note, Errol Morris' style sometimes rubs me the wrong way since he throws in a lot of visual metaphors which sometimes seem unsubtle, lacking in emotional tone, or insight. I find myself distracted by his style rather than really focusing on what is being said. Other people may not feel this way about his films since it's probably a matter of taste and style. Whether you like or dislike the signature style you will run across it in all of his films.