“I went back and forth as to whether or not I wanted to see this. Matt Damon put it on my radar. But the storyline didn’t grab me too much, so I deprioritized it in the midst of the holiday blitz of movies. When I got back to Boston last week, it was one of two available movies I wanted to see, so it was back on the list. Then some negative reviews and a desire to stay home knocked it off again. Add an endoresement from Aaron Sorkin and timing that worked out and hey here I am.
I doubled this with Zero Dark Thirty earlier that day, and while Zero was obviously intense, I found Promised Land to be a lot more weighty. Got me thinking much more. That’s a pretty considerable feat. But at the same time, a lot of my brainpower was used to figuring out the movie. It’s not that the plot was confusing. Matt Damon works for a big energy company that’s trying to lease farm land to mine for natrual gas. Some of the citizens, led by Hal Holbrook and John Krasinski are opposed to it because of the environmental concerns. That much was clear. I just didn’t know whose side I was supposed to be on and wy. You’d think that big corporation equals big bad, but Matt Damon is so caring and sympathetic, you do believe that he’s looking out for people’s best interests.
I volleyed back and forth both sides of the fence throughout the whole thing. I get that was the point. Get people thinking about both sides of the issue without directly preaching one side. It was just frustrating, to the extent where I almost stopped caring and just wanted to know how it all played out.
What was amazing was the cast. That alone made the watch worthwhile. I dont think I need to sell you on Matt Damon. Prolly don’t need to sell you on his partner, Frances McDormand either. Plus Rosemarie DeWitt, John Krasinski, and Hal Holbrook. Just such a top notch cast under Gus Van Sant’s direction. Prioritizing it lower than some of the other big recent releases was certainly the correct call, but I do appreciate that there is a film out there that makes you think. Even if the journey had some frustrations.
Promised Land – \m/ \m/ \m/