Review of Promised Land (2012) by Greg W — 22 Apr 2013

Promised Land, unfortunately, has an agenda. There's no problem with being anti-fracking, of course, but when something is so partisan it ceases to be a complicated issue, a movie should know it has problems. For the sake of time and fiction, we can't get into all of the nitty gritty details, but Promised Land doesn't even try to truly explain the issue it's advocating for, and its lack of complication makes its characters become completely black and white.

Then there's the twist, an ending so gnarled and ugly it seems nonsensical. With a script written by Krasinski and Damon and directed by Gus Van Sant, Promised Land clearly brings a lot of talent to the table, but it never comes together into a film that is either satisfying or wholly enjoyable.