Matt Damon and director Gus Van Sant reunite after 15 years since Good Will Hunting for a small film that is more than just about fracking. It takes on the issue of big business coming in to small, poor towns and sucking the life right out of them. Perhaps that is too harsh since it is up to the people in these towns to decide if they want to let them in or not. But corporations have a way to get precisely what they want by any means necessary. John Krasinski and Damon wrote the script and while it’s clear whose side they’re on, they do not beat you over the head with their message. The audience can agree or disagree and form their own opinion about it. Promised Land isn’t about answering all the questions about corporate America, the environment, or how this country should operate. It is a simple, yet compelling film bringing attention to long-term issues and focuses on the big picture.
Damon plays Steve Butler, a corporate salesman who works for a $9 billion company called Global, and along with his partner Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand) are sent to close a deal in a small rural town that desperately needs the cash. The company they work for has become successful due to their drilling for natural gas. They drill miles deep in to an individual’s property while at the same time releasing deadly chemicals capable of sending the entire town in to a state of decay within a matter of months. Of course, Butler and Thomason don’t believe any of that has a bit of truth to it, but an environmental activist named Dustin Noble (Krasinski) does and has pictures to prove it. What should be a quick trip and an easy job for Butler and Thomason becomes more difficult and will take a lot more hard work to convince the people and leave with what they came for.
Damon’s character is seen as a bad guy by almost everyone in the town with the exception of a retired teacher (Hal Holbrook) who is the first to object and question the drilling and Alice (Rosemarie DeWitt) who captures Butler’s attention with Absolute Madness (a drinking game that will put you right on your ass). And Butler would be easy to despise for the viewers as well if Damon wasn’t playing him. His portrayal is full of sincerity and he uses his power of likability as an advantage to seem more human instead of being just a nameless suit. And while Butler and Thomason want the same outcome, Thomason views what she does as just a job. Nothing more. Nothing less. However, Butler is much more emotional and really believes in what he is doing. You at least have to admire the guy for that.
Promised Land seems like a personal film for Damon and Krasinski, and Van Sant’s direction certainly makes it feel that way. The film focuses on a relevant subject and he handles it with care in a smart, entertaining way that can also be informational. The politics in the film cannot be ignored, but the meaning goes far beyond that. Damon, Krasinski, and Van Sant depict the farm communities in this country and their incredible hardships. With the economy crippling them, it makes them vulnerable and leaves the town survivors with nothing but a bad deal on the table simply waiting for their signature.
Thanks to Van Sant and Damon’s solid, guileless performance, Promised Land is thoughtful and ambitious. Now if we had to compare this to Good Will Hunting, the emotional impact is less affecting in this film. Promised Land is conventional, but still tries to be unpredictable even if the conclusion is inevitable. My one wish would have been for Damon and Krasinski to dig deeper in to their storytelling because the film feels too shallow for the material they are trying to take on. Yet there is still plenty to enjoy and appreciate here and the film is courageous to admit that like fracking itself, America is not perfect.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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