"The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara" is, on the surface, the worst kind of documentary — a "talking-heads" feature, filled with static shots of one person talking directly to the camera. Such documentaries are not only the mark of lazy filmmaking but are also usually a one-way ticket to cinematic dullsville.

And yet, "The Fog of War" somehow manages to escape the limitations of its form.

This shouldn't come as a surprise when you realize that the director is Errol Morris, one of the best documentarians in the business.

To break up what might have become tedious in the hands of another, less-skilled filmmaker, Morris fills the screen with archival war footage, re-creations and animated graphics that enhance the stories being told.

The resulting documentary — one of five nominees for this year's Oscar for Best Feature Documentary — is not only fascinating, it's important. No matter where you stand on recent U.S. conflicts, this film still has a lot to say about how foreign-policy decisions are made.

"The Fog of War" profiles McNamara, who served as the Secretary of Defense in both the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations and was an integral part of policy decisions, including those made during the Vietnam War. (Refreshingly, the questions Morris poses aren't so much morality-based, which leaves viewers with the power to make that assessment for themselves.)

To show exactly how McNamara rose to his post, the film also details his experiences as an efficiency expert for the Air Force, where he calculated the success of bombing raids on Japan during World War II, and briefly discusses his term as president of Ford Motor Co., which lasted only months, due to his appointment to Kennedy's Cabinet.

As always, Morris uses a wealth of information and material in the film, including taped recordings of phone conversations between Johnson and McNamara that indicate McNamara had quite a few misgivings about the U.S. presence in Vietnam.

One of the film's most fascinating moments describes how McNamara met with a former Vietnamese leader in 1995 and discovered how faulty U.S. intelligence work can be. And the score by Philip Glass — as sonically inventive as we've come to expect from him — lends a certain, needed eeriness.

"The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara" is rated PG-13 for archival footage of war violence (including shootings, bombings and close-ups of dead bodies), as well as scattered use of strong profanity. Running time: 107 minutes.

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