Promised Land

Promised Land

No!!!!  So close, Hollywood, so close!

When I first heard about Promised Land, I thought, "ah, another Hollywood, environmental, anti-corporation" movie.  I get tired of these films because the politics are so one-sided.  And it doesn't matter if I agree with the political stance or not (in fact, I often do).  My problem is that some of these films are telling me what I am supposed to think and then tells me I am a close-minded, foolish simpleton if I disagree.  Personally, I don't think that is a very good way to start a dialogue on a serious topic.  In fact, that kind of myopic view is part of the problem in Washington D.C. today.

So I was surprised when I started watching Promised Land, and it did the unexpected and actually tackled the topic in an intelligent and though-provoking way!   Matt Damon plays Steve Butler, who works for Global Crosspower, an energy company focusing on extracting natural gas through a method called fracking.  Steve's job is to go to these small towns, generally full of farmers, and convince them to lease their farmland to Global by offering profit sharing deals.  The town, hit with hard economic times, is of course enthusiastic until an old farmer/teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) brings up major environmental concerns at a town hall meeting.  Steve's job gets even more difficult when a bothersome activist Dustin Noble (John Krasinski) rolls into town to start a grassroots campaign against Global.

For a good chunk of the runtime, I was rolling with Promised Land, which is buoyed by a terrific cast, which also includes the great Francis McDormand and Rosemary DeWitt, working with a nice script co-written by Damon and Krasinski, and under the sure hand of director Gus van Sant (who also directed Damon's Good Will Hunting).  And I was impressed with the movie's mature take on the fracking issue.  Steve is presented not as a corporate stooge, but as a real three dimensional character who believes in what he is saying.  He came from a small farm town.  The life blood of the town was a local factory and when that factory closed down, the town just withered away and died.  Steve still seems shell shocked about his childhood, and he honestly believes that fracking is a way out for the dying small town.  Sure, there is a small chance that something horrible could happen, environmentally, but maybe it is worth the risk so that money can be pumped into these small towns.  The other side of that argument comes from Dustin Noble and Frank Yates.  The environmental risk is not small and the invasive measures used by fracking companies will destroy the land, destroy the livestock, destroy the farms, and ultimately destroy the town.  Both sides are committed to their argument and I admired that they seemed to be letting the audience make up their own mind. 

Sort of a spoiler here: then suddenly the movie decides to throw the audience a curveball in a twist so blatantly ridiculous that it ruins the whole movie, taking everything intelligent about the debate and turning into a diatribe about how corporations are manipulating the world and destroying America.  This was infuriating because it undermines the film, which up to this point had really been working.  Look, I am not deluding myself.  I knew the movie was anti-fracking, but by presenting a logical discussion and actually addressing the opposition's perfectly reasonable arguments, the movie was able to prove its point and hopefully convince people on the fence.  But the twist at the end alienates those in the middle and when that happens, you are just preaching to the choir and you're not going to convince anyone of anything.  Maybe if the twist had been handled better, I wouldn't have been so annoyed, but the script and direction just start to flounder here, despite the cast's best efforts.  Very frustrating experience.  What a shame. 


MVP:
Promised Land also one other flaw.  It tries to shoehorn a love triangle into the film, with both Dustin and Steve chasing the same woman, a local school teacher named Alice, played by Rosemary DeWitt.  Beyond the Hollywood contrivance of this rivalry, it also bothered me because it made Alice a weak character - would she just randomly go out with anyone as long as they came from out of town?  But I only noticed this afterwards because Rosemary DeWitt's performance is so good.  She is a strong and confidant woman, full of good humor and grace, and you can see why Steve and Dustin would both be chasing her.  In fact, it is a bit odd that everyone else in the town is not chasing her.  It's a fine performance and she completely charmed me, elevating the love story scenes from their inherent cliché nature.  It doesn't hurt that she has remarkable chemistry with Matt Damon.  So all in all, a win for Rosemary DeWitt!  A decisive MVP win.

BEST LINE:
STEVE: I'm begging you, don't do this.  Because the truth is we will walk away.  We always do. And then after every single town within three states has signed up and with the blows of this economy almost unbearable, we'll come back.  And we'll offer you nothing.  Every lease we've signed, every piece of the pie we've offered.  It all goes away...and we will buy this place for nothing.

TRIVIA:
This film was supposed to be Matt Damon's directorial debut.  But with a very short time to prepare for the film (and because of some rumored creative conflicts), Damon stepped down as director and Gus van Sant came onboard.