Promised Land

"Promised Land" is a movie for the present time in America. Natural gas, oil shale, oil and related explorations are becoming more common. The world's consumption of oil continues to leapfrog, as more and more one- time third world countries acquire some affluence. Energy prices continue to work their way up. Sources of natural energy that once were far too expensive to produce, now become economical. At the same times, many small farm communities continue to shrink, and most become poorer with few jobs and businesses to support the dwindling farm populations.

Into this setting, "Promised Land" gives us a story of two employees who move into a rural community to buy up the leases for natural gas exploration and possible production. It's a story about people doing their job in earnest, and about the people of a small town. The town is in rural Pennsylvania, but it could be anywhere in rural America. – as Matt Damon's character, Steve Butler says. And, the people of this community must weigh the promise of prosperity against unknown possible negative effects on their natural surroundings from drilling. There is an interesting twist in this story that comes out at the end.

The cast are all quite good. Besides Damon, Frances McDormand co-stars as his sidekick employee, Sue Thompson. John Krasinski is very smooth and believable as Dustin Noble. Rosemarie DeWitt plays Alice, the fifth- grade school teacher. Titus Welliver is Rob, the local guns and grocery story owner. Hal Holbrook, at 88 years of age, is the retired MIT scientist and volunteer high school teacher, Frank Yates. And, the many town folk who are extras add nicely to this story.

The scenic shots are something right out of Norman Rockwell's pastoral America. Damon and Krasinski wrote the screenplay for this film. They also co-produced it with director Gus Van Sant. The film moves at a steady pace that may be too slow for some people. Those who need the fast and furious frenzy of constant-action movies to get their adrenalin flowing are not likely to enjoy this film. But, for the rest of us, it's a nice story that the whole family can enjoy.

Promised Land (2012)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Director Gus Van Sant is visited from the ghost of Frank Capra in this morality tale that mixes politics, family values and greed. Natural gas salesmen Steve (Matt Damon) and Sue (Frances McDormand) head out to a small town to try and make the people vote for allowing them to drill for gas. They spread around whatever "truths" they must to secure the vote but soon the small town life starts to effect Steve. PROMISED LAND isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it's extremely well-made, features some great acting and it really is a fun movie to sit through. There are problems including the ending, which I won't ruin for those who haven't seen the movie but I think this complicated story and issues gets solved way too easily. With that said, Van Sant was the perfect person to handle this material because in someone else's hands you're probably looking at an over-sentimental picture that is too preachy. Instead, Van Sant really paints a great picture of small town life and I thought the screenplay allowed each character to fully grow. This includes obviously the Damon character but several other smaller ones including a terrific bit by Hal Holbrook who plays a local school teacher. The material is extremely well-written and for the most part the message is always there but it's never just beating the viewer over the head. Damon turns in some of his best work in years as he's completely believable in the role of this salesman who starts to have second thoughts. I thought the actor delivered a very strong and emotional performance that really paid off. Holbrook is simply divine in his small role and McDormand is also very good in her supporting bit. Rosemarie DeWitt also adds another winning performance to her resume. PROMISED LAND, I think, could have ended a bit better but there's still something that bring it all together. The film is fairly predictable but with such strong direction and a great cast it's still very much worth seeing.

"I'm not selling them natural gas. I'm selling them the only way they have to get back." Steve Butler (Damon) is a salesman working for Global, a natural gas company. Him and his partner travel to a small farming community to buy up property rights in order to drill. When an objection by a local teacher causes an enviormentalist activist to show up things get harder for Steve. This is a movie where the trailer doesn't do it justice. I wanted to see it based off the cast but it looked a little boring. While the movie is a little slow moving it is in no way boring. The writing and acting is very good and the "bad guy" that Damon plays really makes you feel for him and kind of root for him instead of the "good guy". While the movie does get a little political towards the end this is not a typical "enviromental/save the Earth" type movie. This movie makes you able to feel both sides of the argument and almost forces you to pick a side. I expected this to be boring with good acting going in. I got sucked in pretty fast and ended up really liking this much more then I thought I would. Overall, much better then expected and I highly recommend this. I give it an A.

Let's get this out of the way up front: I'm about as anti-fracking as they come. You've heard of tree huggers? Well, I'm a bedrock hugger. So you'd think to me this movie would be 100% environmental porn. Surprisingly, on that level my reaction was somewhat meh. We'll get to that in the 4th paragraph, but let's talk about the movie on a strictly artistic/entertainment level first.

Excellent. Great acting, good thoughtful pace without becoming boring (in fact it's amazing how interesting they made a subject which puts most people to sleep), nice artistic cinematography, and a truly original story. The story is about a good guy "Steve" (Matt Damon) who works for the natural gas company intent on convincing small rural townsfolk to lease their land to them so they can drill. Steve believes he & his company are doing the right thing by bringing money to the depressed rural economy, a no brainer. But things get complicated when he encounters resistance from some townsfolk and a mysterious environmentalist who isn't exactly fighting fair.

If you caught the clever spin, you see that the film flips the character stereotypes on us. The big corporation is the honest protagonist while the anti-fracking whistleblower is the shady character. I really liked that novel approach. But here's how it sort of falls short regarding the social message it seeks to deliver....

The movie barely gets into the actual debate over fracking (which, in a nutshell, is the practice of "drilling" by shooting water & chemicals deep into the ground so it knocks stuff loose and brings it to the surface. Sorta like fishing by dumping Ajax into a pond so the fish jump up into your boat). While the movie does mention this in 1 scene, that scene was played a bit over the top, with the mystery environmentalist lighting a desk on fire and threatening to incinerate a turtle to make his point. In other words you might miss what he's saying as you are marveling at how absurd he looks. The rest of the movie handles the debate in a similarly oblique way, focusing more on the cat-and-mouse drama between Steve and the environmentalist rather than the actual talking points. In that respect, this film didn't necessarily have to be about fracking; it could've been about a poker game, or a beauty contest, or anything where the goal is to be more convincing than your opponent.

Ultimately, the showdown comes to a clever climax and resolution where a speech wraps things up for us, and if this were an 80s teencom it would certainly deserve a slow clap, but at the same time it may leave you wondering "so wait... uh why is fracking bad?"

If you already know, or if you don't really care, then no problem. Without a doubt the movie is entertaining and worth your time. But if you were expecting a compelling exposé of why fracking is bad, aside from its rather unfortunate name, then you may end up disappointed and/or running to Google to get an education.

Contrasting this movie against classics like "The China Syndrome" (nuclear power) or "The Towering Inferno" (unethical building practices) where we are shown exactly what can go wrong, "Promised Land" doesn't take us there. It just tells us, through innuendo, that we should be afraid of fracking. That was an incredible missed opportunity for an otherwise powerful film.

I would honestly give this film a 9 out of ten. It was directed beautifully, and I feel the screenplay is great. The dialogue is more than believable, and both Matt Damon and John Kransinski both do a wonderful job in conveying their character's qualities and aspirations. There seldom seemed to be a slow moment(if at all).

As far as how close to reality this movie comes.... I live in northeastern Pennsylvania, only 5 minutes away from Harford, and only 25 minutes away from Dimock(where the documentary Gasland was based). I have seen the effects of hydrofracking, both the negative and what little positive comes of it(but those facts and feelings are for another discussion). As sad as it may seem, natural gas and well drilling companies(to go un-named ONLY in this review) bought their way into the community with false hope, money, and lies, but not necessarily as it happened in the film. In reality.... it was even worse. Barbecues, parties, etc. were even thrown in order to gain fans and friends... The community's spirit and resilience was conveyed correctly, though in reality, it gained support too late.

All in all, even if political/social/ecological issues regarding hydrofracking aren't your forte, this film is a quality film that is captivating and deserves to have personal opinions set aside and enjoyed for its quality.