Fields of Fuel

Most of the reviews of "Fuel" rave about Josh Tickell's entertaining presentation of solutions to our global addiction to gasoline and oil. Last night's screening couldn't have been much more serendipitous for the filmmaker. I mean, let's face it, 86 days into BP's rogue well catastrophe, and it was not surprising that Florida State's Student Life auditorium was packed with a diverse group of community residents and students. It was, after all, a free screening.

"Fuel" didn't offer any solutions that haven't already been publicly addressed in a variety of ways by a number of visionaries. Relying on the filmmaker's personal journey from an undergrad thesis project that escalated into a crusade, the film came across as a tad pedestrian. Tickell's experience with alternative fuel sources as a substitute for fossil fuels is indeed impressive. It would be difficult to criticize his passion, or his mission to encourage and nurture change.

BUT, "Fuel" was entirely too precious for me to rave like the other critics. Littered with proactive celebrities like Julia Roberts, Willie Nelson, Larry David, Cheryl Crow and many others, it occurred to me that "Fuel" was way too proud of itself, and way too involved with the idea of celebrity. For someone who is presumably an activist, I wondered about all of the air miles and fuel Tickell spent courting an Irish scientist in Cork, German engineers in Europe, etc. I thought about the air miles he used to attend celebrity-filled festivals.

After I viewed "Fuel" last evening I reread Henry Adams's "The Virgin and the Dynamo" and was reminded about the consuming nature of a contemporary society that has detached itself from the Aquinas-like faith of the middle ages. Adams penned his famous chapter after attending the Paris Exhibition at the turn of the last century. The internal combustion engine (a small dynamo) was featured at the exhibit. "Fuel" devotes a segment that addresses the 1900 event, and the historical context Tickell offers is particularly compelling. The Louisiana information was also edifying.

While "Fuel" had many successful segments, it could be edited and condensed into a more meaningful film that does not require nearly two hours of air conditioned airtime. It reminded me too much of one of those Sally Struther's "Feed the Children" TV campaigns.

Josh Tickell's film "FUEL" outlines the global illness created by disproportionally using petroleum fuel for energy. The viable alternative solutions information that we can all do today (unless apathy has gotten a grip on us (not me! I'm in a state of action)..) is absolutely exhilarating. Josh's great humanitarian gift of showing people how to lead themselves out of the gooey, polluting sludge and into a variety of life-style habits that put us in a higher state of mind and higher state of being is truly great...FUEL is a must for 2009 students from high school through all levels of college. In todays world we need a huge team of people committing to driving different fuels and looking for the many choices we all have to protect the natural environment that we all rely on. We all also need to join green community groups that communicate the latest information about applying the green knowledge. Spread the word about "FUEL" ..the people of the world really need this message

FUEL is not only superbly done, with not a break in holding my attention for its entire length, but timely, pertinent and moving as well. I found myself completely engaged in following the flow of identifying the myriad of breakdowns and conspiracies of perfidy, perpetrated on sectors of our country and our planet. FUEL spoke passionately about the damage done on several levels: individual, community, region, country, world. Personal tragedies correlated with tragedies already experienced by groups and populations, and predictably will extend into the future, affecting us in ways which are likely to exceed what's currently known. And those of us who are actually aware of what's occurring are battling the giants who are continuing in the direction they've been going all along, indisputably aware of the cost to people and the environment. But the remarkable aspect of the film is that in the face of all this you're left with an opening for action, a call to stand up and do something that will forward the healing and impact us all. Now that's the way to walk out of the theater. That's what has FUEL be a film that makes a difference.

This film is amazing, beautiful and important. I believe it's this year's Inconvenient Truth but human and moving as it is Josh Tickell's personal story and currently his life mission. Everyone needs to see this film. It's is so inspiring! I am going to trade in my car for one that runs on bio-diesel because that is something I can do to cause change in this crucial area of the economy, foreign policy, the future of this planet! This film is so motivating that you are going to want to tell everyone you know to see this film and it's so timely considering the election and the current state of affairs. I usually find documentaries the cure for insomnia however FUEL is engaging and entertaining and makes you get off your butt and do something that makes a difference for our world!

Fuel weaves a web of connection between US energy/petrol policy and the environmental and foreign policies that ensue from petrol dependence. Without being preachy, the narrator spins a yarn that takes him from the happy-go-lucky days of an Australian childhood to the US where he begins to mature in his views about energy and the most effective means to make a difference.

The film is stuffed with celebrities, the obligatory genuflection to a star-struck culture that can't imagine much if Cher, Willie Nelson, or Bono aren't hyping it. This aside, probably the most important aspect of the narrator's tale is how he realized that he wasn't going to get squat done if he didn't begin to work collectively. This is the most powerful message of his film. The last third of the move details all of the energy solutions afoot right now, which can be implemented with the right pressure on Congress. It's inspiring folks.

There only seemed to be one glaring error. This has to do with his calculus regarding the use of ethanol. I would suggest everyone read Alcohol Can Be a Gas for a more intelligent discussion on ethanol. The other bone to pick is the matter of environmental racism. Americans are likely more predisposed to any card but the infamous race card. The rebound effects for his own mother, however, demonstrate that good old saying by the big J himself, "That which you do to the Least of my brothers, that's what you do onto me."