Review of Promised Land (2012) by Walter M — 13 Jan 2013

In "Promised Land," David Churchill(Terry Kinney) is considering Steve Butler(Matt Damon, who also co-wrote the script) for an executive promotion but first needs to know something: how he and his partner Sue Thomason(Frances McDormand) are so good at signing up rural towns for natural gas drilling. For Steve, it simply comes down to coming from a small town in Iowa not unlike those he visits, including the latest in Pennsylvania where he gets off to a fast start by getting Drew Scott(Tim Guinee) to sign on the dotted line, even low-balling him. Town Supervisor Richards(Ken Strunk) is not so gullible but Steve is still able to handle him with ease. Not so much Frank Yates(Hal Holbrook), a local teacher, who has the answers and is up for the challenge. Enter Dustin Noble(John Krasinski, who co-wrote the script).

For almost all of its length, "Promised Land" manages to balance its critique of the natural gas industry, how it manages to leverage impoversished communities for profit and in particularly the invidious practice of hydrofracking with a more personal story. It also helps that both sides of the debate are represented. In playing a heel who ironically has disdain for small town people(compared to his partner who sees it as just another job whlle up against a true believer), Damon excels and McDormand is almost as good, even singing at one point, though not at all well. And then at the eleventh hour, there is a plot twist, while not entirely unexpected or unbelievable, still manages to turn what had been a reasonable discussion into something much more pedantic, followed by The Speech. As the guy says, you should have just gotten into the car.