Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

rooprect 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.

Nick Holland Promised Land is directed by Gus Van Sant, written by Matt Damon, and stars Matt Damon. The story is about a worker for the natural gas fracking company, "Global," and his attempts to try and persuade a small, poor, farming town to buy into this fracking technology. He is conflicted in his endeavors by an environmentalist, a local school teacher, and his feeling for a local woman. This was originally going to be Matt Damon's directorial debut, but he ended up giving the job to Van Sant, due to them working together in the ever so successful movie, Good Will Hunting. This film has ups and downs, but is altogether pretty good.To start with the positives, the directing is very nice. Gus Van Sant did very well, yet again, and made the movie look very clean. Although there were no scenes of "action," suspenseful scenes were filmed well, with minimal cuts and some nice, wide shots. The cinematography was also very good. Some of the wide takes of the farmland look truly beautiful. A lot of far off camera angles of Damon's car driving on backroads look very nice, and gives off the simplistic tone to the small town.The other main positive is the acting. Matt Damon, as always, does well. His co stars, John Krasinski, and Frances McDormand do really well also. The combination of the actors really adds a lot to the film. However, there are quite a few negatives. It's not a bad movie, but it isn't exactly great.The biggest negative is the love triangle that happens in the movie. This may be a spoiler for some, so spoiler alert. Damon's character, Steve, takes interest in a character named Alice. They both seem to have good chemistry, and get along well, but Alice all of a sudden jumps to another character's side, and takes interest in him. She then finds out a certain thing, and immediately flips back to Steve's side. This confused the heck out of me. Yes, some people can change their mind, but so quickly, and without reason? It really dragged the film down.The other main problem is the plot. The plot can keep up, but I only counted a few moments in which I actually cared. There was even a point where I was questioning is Steve was the good guy. Many, many things confused me, and I'm not easily confused. The plot dragged on at spots, and I got somewhat bored. I watched the whole thing, and the story would always pick back up, but only after a certain while.Overall, Promised Land was a decent movie. I'll probably watch it again every once in awhile, but it's really not great. I think Promised Land deserves a B-, or a 7 out of 10.

Kevin MacLellan A movie made by Middle East interests does not bode well for honesty. The movie is a total misrepresentation of fracking processes and does not even attempt to portray the truth. Promised Land is supported by zealous environmentalists who either should know better and do not accept anyother truth or the people who support such trash as this movie and Gasland are all dupes to a persuasive anti fracking group. The Middle East wants all of NA to rely on their oil forever. Shame of Matt Damon but then I guess ethics can be bought for a price. Avoid Promised Land. It is poor entertainment and it is very poor science. Take time to learn about fracking, you may be surprised with the truth.

sesht (Did not post this when I watched it last year) Another in-flight entertainment, with a 'too-pat' on-the-nose obvious title (not necessarily a bad thing).Promised Land - Gus Van Sant. Matt Damon. Frances 'Fargo' 'Burn after reading' McDormand. Rosemarie 'Your sister's sister' DeWitt. John 'The (US) Office' Krasinski. Hal 'All the president's men' Holbrook.A piece of trivia that interested me - Krasinski and Damon even share screenplay credit, and it was once supposed to be Damon's directorial debut. If it had been, it would've been clear that Affleck picks them way better than Damon does, though Damon's raking it all in for now.....Matt Damon seems to be wearing his politics on his sleeve these days. With this and 'Elysium', it will be no wonder if he's berated by the conservatives. Set in rural farmland being targeted for gas drilling, Damon plays the sales veep for one such entity who's being thwarted at the game by a spokesman for an environmental agency. Who makes it? Why the interest? Why the focus on this small town? Why gas and not other elements of climate change? I did not get answers to most, but was not dissatisfied either. Little elements like the initial conversation between the town rep and Damon's character in a bar prior to the town hall meeting the next day, trying to emotionally influence an Afghan war vet who's the guardian of his dead vet bro's son, a bar brawl that doesn't conform to expectations - there are a few more such moments that drew me in.I found the movie and its twists decent and engaging, but bereft of emotional heft that could secure more buy-in from me as an audience-member. Matt's playing the bad guy everyman, but his performance still resonates, like it always has, and we still end up rooting for him, not to win, but for eventual redemption, even it needs convenient contrivances. However, his path, and what happens to him is not all straightforward, and credit needs to be given for that. I can watch DeWitt in anything, but having her character in the movie was a major distraction that the plot did not need at all, as it is with love-interests in movies these days. Other than that, and a few other missteps like not completely developing the relationship between McDormand and Titus 'Gone baby gone' 'The town' Welliver's characters, this movie gets everything else right, and can be watched once. Not a completely missed opportunity.