Promised Land

Gus Van Sant's Promised Land serves up a polemic about the dangers of the hydraulic drilling practice known as fracking. Farm boy-turned-corporate salesman Steve Butler (co-screenwriter Matt Damon) has been dispatched by the Global company to the rural Pennsylvania town of McKinley with his partner, Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand), to acquire natural gas drilling rights from local citizens who are suffering hard times due to the recent economic decline. Steve's job shouldn't be too difficult, especially since Global is offering considerable profit to each farmer for the right to blast pressurized chemicals into the soil in order to release natural gas. Some accept with alarming alacrity, but others prove more recalcitrant. The primary opposition comes from Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook), a high-school science teacher who publicly challenges Steve's corporate agenda and calls for the townspeople to vote, rather than just accept Global as their economic salvation. Adding to Steve's consternation is the arrival of Dustin Noble (co-writer John Krasinski), a slick environmental agitator who launches an anti-Global campaign, pointing out that fracking not only contributes to air/water pollution but also proves deadly to livestock. The professional acting ensemble is first-rate (augmented by real-life residents of Avonmore, PA), but the corruption narrative feels simplistic and one can't help but raise an eyebrow over the fact that part of the film's funding came from the United Arab Emirates, the world's third largest oil exporter, which may be said to have a vested interest in suppressing U.S. natural gas production. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (11 min.), an extended scene (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, digital and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)