Promised Land movie is out - reviews?

UPDATED:   The good news is that it is not a very good movie and will not gross much at the box office. Matt Damon or Hal Holbrook might get awards, partly from politics, but the movie just just not a very good movie and won't be popular with the mass audience.

But before you read my review can anyone tell me if there is a LIGHTHOUSE near Lafayette Louisiana?  Is Lafayette close enough to the gulf for a lighthouse? There is one in this movie.  A photo of a lighthouse Lafayette That is the key piece of "evidence", dead cows in Lafayette and the lighthouse. I guess the fact checkers missed that piece of the evidence unless someone here has seen it.

(UPDATE: I phoned the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. There are NO lighthouses near Lafayette, unlike what the movie shows.)

First off, no one likes the "surprise ending" where the environmentalist is working for the same gas company that Matt Damon is working for! This ending helps the movie fall flat for most moviegoers regardless of how they feel about fracking. It just does not work as drama.

And, it's rated R.  For bad language. There is only one punch thrown in the movie and I do not recall any bad language. There are no sex scenes, I don't think anyone even kisses in this movie! But, that R rating is GOOD for us because schools and community groups will simply not show an R rated movie, no matter how good the propaganda. Promised Land even fails on the propaganda level. The R rating limits how widely it can be shown.

The only depiction of drilling is a crude model made by the environmentalist and he spreads the fluid out on top of a model of a farm and sets it on fire. Nothing else about drilling that I can recall at all. There is very little debate about our energy needs. Electricity is just assumed to come from the wires.

Hal Holbrook may get honors for his role as the wise and kindly retired Boeing engineer who now teaches science at the high school as a way to have fun in retirement. Matt Damon's character starts out pro-fracking but becomes anti-fracking near the movie's end. Critics like character growth and Damon does a good job as an actor and he helped write the script. It won't help his career.

Did OPEC or Big Coal help finance this movie? The state of Pennsylvania movie dept was thanked at the end (like films made in LA) But, since "secret financing" is one of the sub plots of this movie I have to wonder who financed it. Almost nothing about coal or alternatives is said. Odd.

(UPDATE: the movie was financed by a Saudi owned company. OPEC monies l financed this movie. Look it up.)

I am not a landman but I would love to read the responses of real landmen to Matt Damon's character and the female land agent.

One reviewer wrote that no one is a "bad guy" in this movie. They managed to make a movie about Big Oil (yeah, I know it's natural gas) and everyone is some shade of concerned citizen and nice fellow. Even the top execs are nothing like you might expect. Most of us would love to deal with these fellows!

But, the weirdest thing is near the end the sight of all these near bankrupt farmers turning down $5,000 an acre to lease. Somehow I just don't see a room full of cash poor-land rich farmers standing up and throwing the landmen out. Has anyone here heard of anything like that?  Maybe if they thought they would get a better offer but not to totally shut down the drilling.

Remember those dead cows from a couple of years ago? They return like zombies. Can anyone tell me if there dead cows by a lighthouse near Lafayette Louisiana? Is that true in the least? Is there even a lighthouse near Lafayette???

Here is a good review of how the movie portrays fracking. It's by Scott Tong. I've found this same review on blogs around the net. Someone is working overtime to spread this around, and that's good news.

http://environmentaljusticetv.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/fact-check-t...

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Permalink Reply by Jimburgess on January 5, 2013 at 5:02

Matt Damon and Hal Holbrook are two typical ultra liberal Hollywood types that

actually believe anyone could give a damn about what their personal beliefs are

about anything!!!!!!  "Promise d Land" does attempt to make a political statement

'that big oil companies are selfish,secretive, manipulative, devious, untrustworthy"

It is an anti-fracking film, with claims that the chemicals used in fracking will invade

the water suppy , ruin the land, and kill cattle  and horses.......they showed pictures

of dead animals on farms,

There was an environmentalist making it difficult for the lease brokers to do their jobs...

by telling story of what happened to his familys' farm........He was proven to be a liar

who actually was employed by the oil company .

In the last act, Matt Damon, reveals the truth as he knows it and suggests that the farmers

do not sell their leases......cannot promise what will actually happen to the land.

IMO, Matt Damons'worst performance.....he was one of the producers.

Jim Burgess

 

Permalink Reply by jlgm on January 5, 2013 at 19:19

With regards to leasing, can it not be said that companies also play the game of intentionally not leasing some?

Permalink Reply by John Brewster on January 9, 2013 at 5:42

I haven't seen the movie, and will not do so.  However, I would like to offer an honest answer to your question - which seems to be sincere.  What are you implying?  What is "the game of intentionally not leasing some?"  When we are attempting to purchase leases prior to drilling a prospect, companies seek to lease all of the mineral estate.  We have a clear economic incentive to do so and in fact, most producing states have "force pooling" or "integration" statues to facilitate the leasing of everyone who might elect to lease.  So please help me understand your comment so that I can offer a real-life response.

Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Mike on January 7, 2013 at 6:25

I caught something about Abu Dhabi before and after the movie.  At the time I wonder what that was about.  It finally clicked.  Why wouldn't Saudi's want to create as much resistance to nat gas as they could.  It seems I was behind after Googling Promise Land Abu Dabhi.  The nation of Abu Dabhi produced the film. 

Permalink Reply by Hopeful About Natural Gas on January 7, 2013 at 7:12

I just called the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.  The person I spoke with said there are no lighthouses near Lafayette, Louisiana.

and, my wife says she saw the name of Abu Dabhi in the credits and Mike is right. Just google it and you learn that Promised Land is a movie financed by Saudi oil money that throws suspicion on fracking.

Permalink Reply by jlgm on January 10, 2013 at 10:58

Since this is a dramatic work, have you considered the symbolism of lighthouses rather than the literal reference? 

Permalink Reply by Ghawker on January 9, 2013 at 5:35

As of Monday, the movie had grossed $4.6 MM in 2 weeks.  Over the weekend, it ranked #10 at the box office, just beating out Monsters Inc. 3D.  Good riddance.

Permalink Reply by blackjackjackson on January 9, 2013 at 15:27

i'm a small landowner in cenla.  i appreciated the info about how landmen work.  this gives me lots of information.  i found it balanced.

i think it is a nice portrayal of landmen.  matt's character is pro-landowners and the landwoman is pro-oil company.  you make your own decision as to whom you would like to deal with.

i have seen leases of $300/18% two years ago.  i now see leases of $800/25%.  i see where lease holders have flipped their holdings to chinese and japanese companies for $12k per acre.  isn't there a global clause that could be put in leases?

i understand the reviews from the oil and gas industries.  both the good and the bad side are employed by the global gas company.   it is informative for landowners who have not been involved w/ mineral leases for their whole lives.   i think it shows that the fracking controversy needs to be watched, but that it is not all that the anti-fracking crowd make it to be.  i found it balanced, but i will try to hire the best lawyer i can find if ever offered.

this is the first oil movie i've seen since "there will be blood."

 

Permalink Reply by John Brewster on January 9, 2013 at 16:04

FYI: There is nothing sinister about dramatic changes in lease offers over time, especially when the terms improve consistent with drilling activity making the minerals more valuable.  Equally, in hot plays like Marcellus, independent landmen often take significant economic risks to lease in unproved areas for relatively low prices.  If the play moves in their direction, as you suggest, their payday is to flip the leases to a big company or even a foreigner.  There is nothing wrong with this activity and it is not unfair to the mineral owner/lessor.  You chose to lease when the market price for the lease was low as your minerals were "goat pasture" at the time.  If they later become much more valuable, you win. The assignee who pays a lot for the lease will probably drill a very expensive well for you that will hopefully pay you royalty for many years to come.

Permalink Reply by blackjackjackson on January 9, 2013 at 16:27

john, thank you.

i agree with all you wrote.  i wasn't complaining.

again, you probably know lots more than me.  i just trying to learn.

 

Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on January 9, 2013 at 16:50

Hey Blackjack, you gonna buy BS or gonna go from the gut  feeling?

Permalink Reply by blackjackjackson on January 10, 2013 at 2:58

two dogs, i don't know the difference right now.  the only experience i've had w/ landmen is on this blog and it is very positive.  i thought the movie tried to present landmen in a very positive  light.  i remember the pricepoint discussion/presentation.   

i truly appriciate the honesty you and skip peel have given me and this board.  also,  i try to view everything through a spiritual perspective.

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