Sometimes a movie opens and you can just tell it’s destined to slip through the cracks and be underrated. Promised Land is already one of those movies, as it opened and died in theaters this weekend and is unlikely to get any Oscar nominations when those are announced on Thursday. And yet, it’s my pick for the second best movie I saw in 2012. It’s a gem, a literary feeling movie about the very soul of a small town, it’s the kind of movie Hollywood almost never makes anymore, and I absolutely encourage people to seek it out.
What Works: The plot of this movie is about a faux-folksy natural gas salesman (Matt Damon, clearly savoring his best role in years, and no wonder since he co-wrote the screenplay) who has to convince the land owners in a small town to sign over the rights to drill on their land. Jon Krasinski soon shows up as a sly environmental activist who voices the downsides of natural gas drilling or “fracking.” Watching the two conduct a tug-of-war for the fate of the town felt like the richest of great American novels, as people are torn between the dollar signs (it’s no coincidence that most “fracking” towns are poor, struggling farm towns that have gone bust) and the fact that their land could very well be ruined, rendered useless with potentially cancerous drinking water. The movie is funny, surprising, humane, and has a great speech from Matt Damon about “fuck you money.” If you don’t see it in theaters, please rent it in a few months.
What Doesn’t Work: [crickets]…I’m not saying the film is perfect, but I chose this as the second best film of the year, and know that people are already going to be apprehensive enough about seeing it without me pointing out a handful of minor flaws. The box office has been pitiful, the reviews have been muted, and the critic’s prizes have been non-existent…come on, support a quality underdog won’t you?
What I Would Have Done Differently: Invited a couple more friends so the theater would be more full.