Movie Review - Promised Land
It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!
-- Upton Sinclair (1935)
The subject of self-deception by good people in the pay of amoral entities is always an interesting one. In Promised Land we have Steve Butler (Matt Damon), who grew up in a small farming town in rural America, but now works for energy giant Global Crosspower Solutions. His job, with partner Sue (Frances McDormand), is to go to small towns that have been identified as having reserves of natural gas beneath them, and persuade the land owners to lease Global the rights to drill and frack the ground beneath them, for a share of the profits.
Steve is good at his job, better than most of the others in the his department, because he comes from a small town much like the ones he goes to. He's seen the decline of family owned farms, and seen what that does to the farmers and their families. He's seen how that decline devastates communities. Giving these people a way to earn a living from the land that's been passed down through generations is something he genuinely believes will help these people, and not because that's just something he's been told by his employer.
But he's never had to look too closely at the motivation or methods of his employer. It seems he's never had to look closely before, as the lure of dollar signs has apparently persuaded most of the towns he's previously been to without much resistance. The latest town is a bit different. Wise old ornery school science teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook), and then environmental activist Dustin Noble (John Krasinski), start to set the town against him. Inevitably, Steve is confronted with some uncomfortable truths about his employer.
It's an interesting premise, but unfortunately flawed in execution.
Steve and Dustin's approach to persuading the townsfolk about which of them to trust seems to revolve around who can be the friendliest and most personable in the local bar, or simply pitting the promise of piles of cash against over the top fear-mongering anecdotes. Rational discussion of actual safety records and statistics is unnecessary if you can persuade the townsfolk you're the one they'd most like to have a beer with. (Hey, it worked for George Bush)
Most importantly, the way Steve learns his lesson is [a problem, which is also a minor spoiler]way too sudden, with not enough investigation. It's a revelation, rather than an uncovering and following of clues.
It's not all bad. The acting and characterisation are all good. Not just the leads, but the townsfolk are very un-stereotyped. None of them are hicks. They're just farmers concerned about their farms, their families, and their livelihoods. They're worried about the future and providing for their families. The dialogue is also very good, with great sparring from Steve and Dustin, and plenty of gentle humour besides.
While Promised Land is good in its moments, overall it feels empty. It's damning that I find the most thought-provoking aspect of this film, which is about the need to look into your sources of information, to be that it's obviously opposed to fracking in the US and the companies which do it, but has reportedly been financed to a large degree by middle-eastern oil money.
-- Upton Sinclair (1935)
The subject of self-deception by good people in the pay of amoral entities is always an interesting one. In Promised Land we have Steve Butler (Matt Damon), who grew up in a small farming town in rural America, but now works for energy giant Global Crosspower Solutions. His job, with partner Sue (Frances McDormand), is to go to small towns that have been identified as having reserves of natural gas beneath them, and persuade the land owners to lease Global the rights to drill and frack the ground beneath them, for a share of the profits.
Steve is good at his job, better than most of the others in the his department, because he comes from a small town much like the ones he goes to. He's seen the decline of family owned farms, and seen what that does to the farmers and their families. He's seen how that decline devastates communities. Giving these people a way to earn a living from the land that's been passed down through generations is something he genuinely believes will help these people, and not because that's just something he's been told by his employer.
But he's never had to look too closely at the motivation or methods of his employer. It seems he's never had to look closely before, as the lure of dollar signs has apparently persuaded most of the towns he's previously been to without much resistance. The latest town is a bit different. Wise old ornery school science teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook), and then environmental activist Dustin Noble (John Krasinski), start to set the town against him. Inevitably, Steve is confronted with some uncomfortable truths about his employer.
It's an interesting premise, but unfortunately flawed in execution.
Steve and Dustin's approach to persuading the townsfolk about which of them to trust seems to revolve around who can be the friendliest and most personable in the local bar, or simply pitting the promise of piles of cash against over the top fear-mongering anecdotes. Rational discussion of actual safety records and statistics is unnecessary if you can persuade the townsfolk you're the one they'd most like to have a beer with. (Hey, it worked for George Bush)
Most importantly, the way Steve learns his lesson is [a problem, which is also a minor spoiler]way too sudden, with not enough investigation. It's a revelation, rather than an uncovering and following of clues.
It's not all bad. The acting and characterisation are all good. Not just the leads, but the townsfolk are very un-stereotyped. None of them are hicks. They're just farmers concerned about their farms, their families, and their livelihoods. They're worried about the future and providing for their families. The dialogue is also very good, with great sparring from Steve and Dustin, and plenty of gentle humour besides.
While Promised Land is good in its moments, overall it feels empty. It's damning that I find the most thought-provoking aspect of this film, which is about the need to look into your sources of information, to be that it's obviously opposed to fracking in the US and the companies which do it, but has reportedly been financed to a large degree by middle-eastern oil money.