‘Promised Land’ goes easy on fracking issues

  • By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
  • Wednesday, December 26, 2012 8:05pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Steve Butler is an advance man for a natural gas company, a guy who swoops into a small town, dresses like the locals and paints large dollar signs in front of their eyes.

For “Promised Land,” this means we’ll be watching this very sincere, thoroughly committed corporate shill as our hero.

He’s played by Matt Damon, which helps a bit. But this idea of putting an unsympathetic fellow at the center of a movie is the most interesting wrinkle in “Promised Land,” which arrives as a pleasant and predetermined story with its heart in the right place.

Butler comes to the town of McKinley, Pa., along with his professional partner, Sue (Frances McDormand).

The locals they meet are generally happy to sign away their land in exchange for healthy checks and the promise of future rewards.

Complications emerge. A local schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) suggests that fracking might have consequences even beyond messing up the land. An environmental activist (John Krasinski, who wrote the script with Damon) paints a dire portrait of what the gas company has left in its wake elsewhere.

And, in an amusing sequence that involves multiple shots of booze, Butler meets a local teacher (Rosemarie DeWitt, late of “Your Sister’s Sister”), who could show him a thing or two about appreciating the western Pennsylvania land he’s so eager to frack.

“Promised Land” is directed by Damon’s “Good Will Hunting” partner Gus Van Sant, who assuredly has on his mainstream cap here. Van Sant manages to keep the movie honest in spots where it might have gone in the direction of simple propaganda or salt-of-the-earth bromides.

As it is, there are a few of those. The script isn’t able to disguise how thin its actual story is, as though the impulse to make a movie about the issues involved with fracking for natural gas predated the somewhat stock characters on display.

Still, it’s an easy watch. Damon, DeWitt and McDormand carve out little human shadings for their characters, and the small town environs have a good feel to them: front porches and backyards alike have a pleasing authenticity.

Most of the plot points are easy to predict, although one late-in-the-day revelation is a pretty good twist.

And “Promised Land” doesn’t, after all, aggressively promote one side of its issue, although given the solid liberal credentials of its makers we can probably assume which side they’re on.

No, it promotes a more old-fashioned notion that people might be well-advised to think about things before making big decisions.

Pretty tame, really, whatever the motivations behind it.

“Promised Land”

A pleasant enough if predetermined movie about a natural-gas rep (Matt Damon) who comes to a small Pennsylvania town to sell the locals on the profitability of fracking the land. Gus Van Sant’s mild film has nothing more radical than “think before you act” on its mind, which might account for its tame demeanor, but the cast (Frances McDormand and John Krasinski included) and the rural locations help the process along.

Rated: R for language.

Showing: Meridian.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

A stroll on Rome's ancient Appian Way is a kind of time travel. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves on the Appian Way, Rome’s ancient superhighway

Twenty-nine highways fanned out from Rome, but this one was the first and remains the most legendary.

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Inside Elle Marie Hair Studio in Smokey Point. (Provided by Acacia Delzer)
The best hair salon in Snohomish County

You voted, we tallied. Here are the results.

The 2024 Kia EV9 electric SUV has room for up to six or seven passengers, depending on seat configuration. (Photo provided by Kia)
Kia’s all-new EV9 electric SUV occupies rarified air

Roomy three-row electric SUVs priced below 60 grand are scarce.

2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD (Photo provided by Toyota)
2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD

The compact SUV electric vehicle offers customers the ultimate flexibility for getting around town in zero emission EV mode or road-tripping in hybrid mode with a range of 440 miles and 42 mile per gallon fuel economy.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.