Review of Promised Land (2012) by Matt L — 02 Jun 2013

Generally making between three and five films a year, Matt Damon was relatively quiet on the film front in 2012. Technically, he only made one film for 2012 - that being Promised Land, but if you want to count We Bought a Zoo, which didn't actually hit theaters until Christmas 2011, two films in 2012 is still pretty quiet for a big, splashy movie star like Matt Damon. But, with several films queued up for release in 2013, Promised Land will not be the last you see of Mr. Damon in 2013.

In Promised Land, Matt Damon stars as Steve Butler, a corporate salesman going door-to-door in a small, rural town trying to lease land to drill for natural gas. Steve, along with his partner Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand), runs into an environmentalist, Dustin Noble (John Krasinski), campaigning to get the townspeople to reject the corporate presence and preserve the land. The process of "fracking," a technique designed to dig for and release natural gas, takes center stage in this drama. Rosemarie DeWitt and Hal Holbrook also star in supporting roles.

Promised Land had a very promising beginning, so it's unfortunate that midway through the film it took a turn for the worst. For those of us that don't know about "fracking," the film stands to inform (biased, of course) about a process that can be extremely detrimental to land. While the informative nature of the film is all fine and dandy, it's the twists and turns that become bothersome. Without revealing the spoilers, it's hard to go into further detail other than to say they (the twists) completely ruin the film and give corporate American an unnecessary slap in the face.

On the plus side, Matt Damon does a tremendous job in his starring role. Promised Land is no Good Will Hunting, but Damon provides that same drawing power that literally sucks you right into the thick of the plot, making you forget you're even watching a film - even though the film certainly has its flaws. The confrontation between John Krasinski's character and Damon is really one-sided, and the supposed tension feels forced instead of genuine. And, as usual, Rosemarie DeWitt - the love interest - plays a poorly written character that could have easily been played by any other actress in Hollywood. In other words, Promised Land has a mixed bag of great acting and not so great acting, which are easily noticeable from scene to scene, mostly due to the poor writing.

Overall, Promised Land is informative at times, but poorly written with several holes in the script. Still, Matt Damon does the brunt of the heavy lifting to get this film across the finish line making it worth viewing.