Courtesy: Focus Features/Universal Studios
Matt Damon’s new starring vehicle, Promised Land is not one of the best of 2013’s crop of new movies. It is however, worth at least one watch. It’s a relatively simple movie, despite what so many critics and audiences have apparently thought of it. It is not as deep as those individuals would have people believe. The crux of Promised Land has absolutely nothing to do with the issue of fracking. The real issue at hand in this seemingly socially conscious story is that of corruption within the world’s major energy companies and businesses in general. It just so happens that the issue of fracking is used as the backdrop for that plot. And at the heart of it all is Matt Damon’s character of Steve Butler who thinks all along, that he is doing something good, until a twist late in the story leaves him questioning everything that he has known. Of course, add in a minor romance subplot for Steve, and audiences get the end result that is this interesting but not entirely memorable story.
The major hurdle that Promised Land faced when it originally debuted in theaters in early 2013 was figuring out a way to take the tried and true plot centered on business corruption from being stale and boring. Stories centered on corruption within the business world are nothing new. See Michael Douglas’ Wall Street franchise or Leonardo DiCaprio’s upcoming movie, The Wolf of Wall Street. Since this plot is nothing new to Hollywood’s brass, it should be said that at least the execution of the story line is original even if the plot isn’t. So the movie as a whole does have that much going for it. For its attempts to be at least somewhat original, Damon and his co-writers deserve some credit. The real problem with the whole movie was the timing of its release.
Promised Land had trouble performing at top notch levels in theaters. There is no denying this. Its performance issues were not just because of its subject matter, but also because of the timing of its release. America is currently in an economic and political climate that necessitates movies as means to escape even more than ever. So being faced with a story that deals with issues that have been all over the news, viewers obviously turned largely away from it. Had the nation’s economic and political situations been different when this was released, movie-goers’ reaction might have been different. From that angle, it can be said that perhaps this is a positive. It’s a positive in that it serves as an example of what not to do in planning the release date for a movie. So it has that going for it, too.
For the issues surrounding Promised Land, it isn’t entirely without its merits. Lead actor Matt Damon was at least mildly convincing as the socially blind Steve Butler. In its own way, his portrayal of Steve is realistic. Just look at the way that supporters of one political party or another blindly support their side every day on every major issue. Look at the way that PR professionals cover up the wrongs of their companies. In many cases, those professionals actually believe the words that they spew out. This isn’t always the case. But it does happen. So Steve’s reaction in figuring out that he has been little more than a pawn in Global’s bigger plot makes him a more sympathetic character for audiences. He becomes someone to whom audiences can relate and for whom they can cheer. It’s at least one reason for viewers to take in this story at least once.
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