The film reunites the duo that produced such outstanding films as Good Will Hunting but unfortunately Promised Land while examining some interesting issues runs into trouble with its character and storyline especially in the second half of the film.
Damon speaking at the press conference said that while the film did not do well commercially in its American release he stood behind the work and believed that it was possible that in future years it might come to be more appreciated than it was today.
Damon plays Steve Butler a salesman for a big energy company that is sent into a small farming town in Western Pennsylvania to buy up the rights to extract natural gas from underneath the farms using a dangerous process known as “fracking.”
While coming from a small town himself Steve is an ambitious carreer-minded man who is committed to climbing the corporate ladder. He expects that it will be easy to buy up the rights from the impoverished farmers glossing over the environmental dangers of “fracking” a process which creates subterranean fractures deep under ground to extract formerly inaccessible gas. High energy prices globally have made the process highly profitable although the potential environmental damage caused by the uncontrolled hydraulic injection of dangerous chemicals. But Steve finds the locals are better informed than he anticipated and when a local environmentalist shows up to rally them to the cause the deal starts to unravel. Steve is confronted with a moral dilemma and as a former small town farm boy himself finds he has to choose which side he will be on in the end.
While the film obviously looks at a very controversial environmental issue Damon speaking at the press conference said that the film was not really about “fracking” but about American identity and that the idea and structure of the story had taken place before he and co-writer John Krasinski decided to use it as a vehicle for the ideas they wanted to examine.
He stressed that the film was about the concepts of community and the stewardship of our environment and our community for future generations. He said: “In the banking community and other communities today there is the idea that I’m getting mine and to Hell with everybody else.”
Steve’s sales partner is Sue Thomason played well by Frances McDormand who he said he had in mind when he wrote the part. Perhaps the best performance and most convincing character in the film is Hal Holbrook as the retired teacher and scientist Frank Yates who calmly and wisely gives voice to the risks of “fracking.”
While delivering a worthy message that should have reached a wider audience unfortunately the unsatisfying elements of the film have meant it has enjoyed limited success and is likely to face the same problem in Europe.
Director: Gus Van Sant
USA 2012
Cast: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt, Hal Holbrook
