Starring: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt, Hal Holbrook
Director: Gus Van Sant
Rating: 3/5
Matt Damon has already won an Oscar for his writing skills when he teamed up with his pal Ben Affleck to pen Good Will Hunting but now he has teamed up with John Krasinski for a new project.
The pair are working together for the first time as they have penned the screenplay for Promised Land and is based on a story by Dave Eggers.
Steve Butler (Damon) is an
ace corporate salesman who is sent along with his partner, Sue Thomason (McDormand), to close a key rural town in his company's expansion plans.
With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company's offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief.
What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (Krasinski).
This is a solid eco-drama that pit’s a giant corporation that puts profit above everything else as it goes up against a small town.
There is enough intrigue to hold your attention for the one hour and forty six minutes by it just fails to really pack that emotional punch that would have elevated it to a great movie.
Yes this movie does highlight the issue of fracking and the dangers that come with this process and while that may not exactly sound like a riveting topic it is more of a backdrop as this film explores ethics.
Matt Damon gives another terrific performance in the central role as a man Steve a man who has his ideals and his loyalties tested on a job that was supposed to be straightforward.
Steve starts off as a man who dedicated to his job and believes in the words that he spouts to his very core. But along the way as he begins to get to know the towns people and remember his own childhood questions about the validity of what he and his company are doing begin to rise.
He is supported by a great cast with McDormand, a woman who works but misses her son, and Krasinski, who is not all he seems, both giving terrific performances.
But Promised Land really could have been a very powerful drama had it dared to tackle the subject of fracking a little deeper and look at the serious dangers that it poses.
Because the movie fails to do this you never really get to feel the fear that the town’s people have about selling their land and so it really does miss that emotional heart that would have given the story that extra punch.
All the same this is an intriguing movie that is worth a watch for Damon’s great central performance - he is an actor that just seems to be getting better and better with every movie he makes.
Promised Land is out now
Tagged in Gus Van Sant Matt Damon