I felt terrible for William Powell while watching this. Think back to all the stupid things that you thought when you were 19. He wrote it down. He didn't create the recipes for the explosives, he compiled the information. So many of the recipes came straight from our own government and the ways that they were blowing people up. The book had a catchy title and some press. He's spent years disavowing the book, and contributing wonderful things to the world and helping people. But the thing that no one will ever forget is a book he wrote when he was 19.

Imagine being 50 years old and *still* talking about a tweet that you wrote when you were 19 that the world won't forget about.

The interviewer really hammers William over every mass shooting, every bombing, and grills him about every decision he ever made regarding the book. I could hardly get through the "documentary" because I felt terrible for William. He just wants it to go away.

He didn't create the evil in the world. You can google "how to make a bomb" and find recipes from all over. His is the most popular. You cannot remove something from the internet. Even if he could stop it's publication, it would immediately backfire and start an underground market for the book that couldn't be tracked. There are also hundreds of other similar books, many of them are arguably better. Owning the cookbook is something that you have for shock value. I've had a copy since I was 13, because it made me feel tough and edgy. You cannot squash people's desires to make bombs by playing whack-a-mole with every set of instruction you can find.

Children have been taught by their governments since the moment government was created that when someone scares you, you blow them up. William Powell didn't do that. He was exceedingly patient with an interviewer who seemed hellbent on blaming him for every misguided individual that's ever wanted to blow something up. He seems to have made a wonderful life for himself and has given back tenfold, and at the end of the documentary, I just wanted to give him and his wife (who was incredibly gracious) a big hug.

Yes the movie takes a very clear stance and by doing so (repeatedly) it may annoy some viewers (probably not as much as the individual who has to live with his written contribution and something that people use and abuse time and time again). The fact of the matter is, that mistakes of the past can haunt us. Sometimes we choose not to think about them and just keep on living. You can see that he tries or tried to move on with his life.

It's not easy though, especially when you get reminded by a film crew and if the guy asking you questions keeps digging and asking. It is a tough watch and a somewhat strange documentary. But this what makes it compelling in a way too. And while the filmmaker is judgemental, it is still left up to you, to judge about the author of a "bad" book ... And it's up to you to interpret and really draw something out of this. What it says about human nature, about forgiveness, about corrupting, about easy manipulation and about responsibility ...

This film consists of interviews with William Powell, the author of the infamous "Anarchist's Cookbook"...a how-to guide for folks anticipating terrorist activities. The book explains how to make bombs, napalm and more.

When the film begins, it's surprising to see that Powell is now a school teacher working with underprivileged kids and isn't the crazed anarchist many might expect. In many ways he seems like a decent person. However, when the film came to Powell's responsibility for homegrown terrorist attacks, like Columbine, where folks admit to having bought the book and used it...then Powell seems to obfuscate a bit. He takes responsibility to a degree...and the filmmaker then pursues this...pushing to take a greater sense of ownership over his impact on these terror attacks. Again and again, Powell appears to dance in circles taking ownership...to a degree...and only to a limited degree.

Overall, the film is mildly interesting but nothing is that exciting or mind-blowing that I would say it's anything like a must-see picture. A time passer....