Promised Land

 

Gus Van Sant's Promised Land has its heart in the right place, but late in the film, it loses whatever brains it may have had, allowing the heart to perform a hostile takeover on the film's tone.  The film starts out as a semi-interesting drama about corporations, environmental concerns, and the economic slowdown of farm culture.  But then, the screenplay just gets lazy, and turns into an endless series of sermons on its subjects.  If only the filmmakers had used their heads as much as their hearts, this movie could have really been something.

The movie wants to be a look at the process of fracking, an effort to obtain natural gas by pulverizing shale deep under the ground.  It is one of the many alternative energy sources currently being looked at, and for most of its running time, the movie is an evenhanded, if not heavy-handed, look at both sides of the argument.  Representing the "pro-fracking" side are two people who work for the giant energy corporation, Global Gas.  They are Steve Butler (Matt Damon) and Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand).  They arrive in a rural community that is believed to hold a large amount of shale deep beneath the ground.  They show up, promising an economic boon to anyone who agrees to sell their farmland to the corporation, as well as a share in whatever future profits may come from their land.

At first, the town is supportive of Global Gas and the money they are certain to bring to the town, but then science teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) speaks up during a community meeting.  He's heard that there can be negative effects to the land concerning the drilling, and is trying to raise awareness in the town that maybe the corporation doesn't have the community's best interest in mind.  Not long after that, an environmentalist named Dustin Noble (John Krasinski) shows up, and starts slowly turning the town against Global Gas, filling the streets and cars with protest fliers and yard signs.  With a vote on whether or not Global Gas will be allowed to drill just three weeks away, both sides of the argument will attempt to win over the community, and pull them to their side.  This includes everything from holding a county fair, to winning over the support of the locals at the neighborhood diner.

Not only do Matt Damon and John Krasinski star in Promised Land, but they wrote the screenplay together, also.  The script is obviously dealing with a complex real world issue, and while the script does simplify things quite a bit, it perhaps does too good of a job.  The characters are largely underwritten, and exist to give big speeches that represent either side of the argument.  Some of these speeches are quite good, such as when Damon's character is in a bar, talking to some locals about how their way of life is dying, and that they and the community in general need the money that his corporation is providing in order to provide for their futures.  We can hear the honesty in what these characters are saying, but we don't really believe in these people to begin with, since they seem to grandstand at any opportunity.  Watch the scene where Damon and Holbrook are standing on the patio together, talking.  It doesn't even sound like a conversation, it sounds exactly like a scripted scene.

That's not to say the performances are bad.  These actors are simply being forced to read canned dialogue.  Damon displays a real laid back charm, while McDormand as his partner gets the more interesting character.  She has a son back home that she is working for, and pretty much is doing everything for him.  I would have personally liked to have seen this relationship and subplot strengthened.  And despite being known mainly for comedic work, Krasinski shows a very easy screen presence, and a sense of showmanship when he has to demonstrate his views to the locals.  Despite his good intentions, he does at times come across as a sort of snake oil salesman, giving a slick production to the locals.  These are all generally likable people.  You just wish that the movie spent a little bit more time developing them.

 

If anything, Promised Land is a very gentle and well-meaning movie, despite its R-rating. (Chalk up another blunder for the MPAA.  How a movie like this, which only contains a few "F-Bombs", is worse than the violence in most PG-13 films is beyond me.) It's simply a very simple, and not very memorable in the end.  I'm not sorry I saw it.  I just could have done without the heavy-handed speeches, that start to hit you over the head after a while.

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