Oil Storm

"Oil Storm" is the latest made-for-TV movie to use what is rapidly becoming a tiresome technique: a faux-documentary retrospective that details the events that led up to a disaster.

The story opens in the near future, Labor Day weekend of this year, and describes a chain reaction that leads to global economic turmoil. Drawing from a collection of worst-case scenarios, the film portrays an America in chaos after the oil supply chain is disrupted. Political efforts to alleviate the problems caused by the oil shortfall predictably fail, and the result is a crisis that makes Americans (at least the ones portrayed in the film) question their reliance on oil.

While some may portray the film as anti-Bush, it feels more anti-oil, anti-conspicuous consumption. Political actions in the movie are framed within the context of the current behavior of many of the major global political players - US, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia - and generally might not be too far off the mark.

The contingency planning and consideration of viable alternatives is simplistic, but thankfully, the writers at least avoid the "Mexico closes the border" cliché. In short, the film is about as interesting as watching a tanker spill cleanup.

Admittedly I only caught 5/6th of the movie because I was called out of the room on two occasions. However overall I have a pretty good idea of the movie and where it was going.

The documentary footage format served it well, though because documentaries aren't very good at building tension this movie never made me really emotionally engage the characters.

I give the movie credit for educating me about our oil infrastructure, and they paint a somewhat feasible picture of a sequence of events that could lead to a serious economic drought in America.

What I don't like about the movie is that it never looked at any possibilities of 'alternative fuels'. They mention present day politicians like President Bush, but they never mention present day initiatives like alternative fuel vehicles and Willie Nelson's Biodiesel efforts. The fact that these things were omitted makes me wonder who paid for this movie and what it's purpose was. Every time a problem with our oil supply occurred, the documentary just said "So we needed to find another source of oil"..

It wasn't bad. Most of it could happen but probably not as severely as it was portrayed. Still, the potential for these events are an ever-present possibility and probably a good reason to actively seek out alternative fuel sources. Artistically, it was well done and cause for ponder. Many of the events portrayed in this documentary are real events that are happening on other countries. The scenarios seem very real. The documentary portrays some dismal events and I think it could have offered some potential positive outcomes rather than having such a pessimistic outlook on a very real dilemma. Like it or not, the events portrayed could happen but these shows need to focus also on how we solve the problems.

Most die-hard (and they will) conservatives label anything against their beliefs as anti-(insert Patriotic jingoism here) but, this MADE_FOR_TV_MOVIE is simply anti-us dependency on foreign oil. And any good American should be concerned with our dependency on foreign oil. We need to take this opportunity (decent economy, lots of wealth) and make the investment in our future. Sure, ANWAR holds some oil, but what we really need is a systematic plan 10-50 year plan to eliminate our need for foreign oil. We have the resources, let's do it.

Oh, the movie was a war-of-the worlds style of realism, using "real" TV broadcasts, probably more because it's a cheap way to go, rather than it being an effective means of communication. Good topic, OK execution.

This was an interesting presentation and makes you think about some things. And that's probably what will scare pro-Bush "values voters", having to think about these issues. For them, they'll immediately dismiss it as propaganda, switch back to FOX "News" Channel and stick their heads back in the sand.

For a TV disaster film with a lot of potential to be bad (see the cheese pile known as "10.5"), it is very well done, especially the writing. Cutting together real footage and fictional interviews & staged "events", "Oil Storm" is deeply engaging and VERY believable. Despite the constant reminders that it is a work of fiction, you often feel you're watching a real documentary.

The actors play a huge role in selling it too because without their low-key and subtle performances, it wouldn't have worked. We've all seen fake documentaries where the actors are so bad, the lines so stilted and nail-on-the-head, you know you're watching a fake. With the exception of the teenage son, the entire cast connect with you like real people facing historic crisis.

Also, the narrator plays a valuable role in selling "Oil Storm" as real. His voice is familiar (History Channel, if I remember correctly) and credible in the documentary format. He does a quality job taking you through the series of events set in the future, as though they happened a few years ago.

Most of all, this film presents the harsh reality of just how interdependent and fragile our economy is. For every scenario the film presents, I'd find myself saying, "Well, then I'd just do this...", only to find out oil has an effect on aspects of our lives we never would have imagined. Life becomes more complicated than "I'll just take a bike to work!" While the catalyst events portrayed in "Oil Storm" are fictional and arguably a little unrealistic, there are a number of situations which could throw us into the bottom line - a massive oil shortage. The film is effective in making a strong case for moving the country away from our dependency on foreign oil.