An Inconvenient Truth
Some Reviews of the Film
 What is this? We asked a number of Sierra Club chapter and group newsletter editors what they thought of An Inconvenient Truth. Here's what they said. Got an opinion? Tell us about it.
Reviews from:
From Bill l'Hommedieu, Layout Editor of the Mount Vernon Sierran, Arlington, VA.
When I saw this film, on Date Night in San Francisco, I noticed that the audience was overwhelmingly 20-something. I was heartened that young people socializing in one of the world's most sophisticated cities would choose to fill a theatre to capacity to consider the message of this film and by their attendance and reaction bring life to the real message of this film... Al Gore poses a question that only we can answer.
Al Gore is still a wonk and still does very well with what most of us remember him for: data and details.
But now, in An Inconvenient Truth, he brings two additional "Ds," drive and drama, to his mission of slowing global warming and bringing sustainable living to the planet. He states that human behavior, values and lifestyle are threatening the stability and health of our planet and as a result, well, human behavior, values and lifestyle are threatened.
Heat trapped by excess CO2 melts ice caps, thaws permafrost, and changes ocean and wind currents, bringing dramatic changes to weather patterns. Additionally, insects, and the diseases they carry, proliferate, virile incubation patterns expand, and feeding patterns throughout the food chain change. Drought and flood will become everyday tragedies all over the world and neighboring states will experience these phenomena simultaneously. Gore's point: Everything will change.
Mr. Gore uses the parable of the boiling frog: when one places a frog in tepid water on the stove, the frog will simply stay in the pot as the water comes to a boil and become zuppe di rana! Now the average sensible and sensitive frog, dumped into a pot of boiling water, will exit quickly. Mr. Gore believes that we humans are smarter than the average frog, that we have the capacity to become aware of the increasing heat of the water and will chose to jump out... and then turn off the stove!
Do we want to turn off the stove, Mr. Gore asks?
Do we have the will to elect the leadership necessary to affect the cessation of global warming? And will we as individuals participate in the solution by doing what we can do in our everyday lives to use less of the planet's resources and live sustainably?
What do YOU want?
This film is slickly presented. The graphics, charts and staging are spectacular. As the spawn of the evolving slide show Mr. Gore has toted around the planet for the last six years, this film is powerful in making Mr. Gore's case.
An Inconvenient Truth left me with promise and hope. We have the technology and the knowledge, now, to effect change that could reduce atmospheric CO2 to 1970 levels, which was about the time that the more extreme weather began to appear. Mr. Gore asks: Do we have the will?
When I saw this film, on Date Night in San Francisco, I noticed that the audience was overwhelmingly 20-something. I was heartened that young people socializing in one of the world's most sophisticated cities would choose to fill a theatre to capacity to consider the message of this film and by their attendance and reaction bring life to the real message of this film: We can jump out of the pot, we can turn the burner off and we can make changes as a race and as individuals that will allow us to be in harmony and balance with our planet.
John Kennedy issued the challenge of putting a man on the moon within a decade. Mr.Gore issues a similar challenge: reach out to another heavenly body much closer to us all, respect it, cherish it and live in harmony with it.
From Susan Ray, Sierra Club volunteer
Could an Oscar or the Oval Office be in Al Gore's future?
An Inconvenient Truth is the presentation of what we as human beings have done to our planet. The flow of this movie initiates a range of emotions for viewers. Humor steps in to lighten some of the heavier moments, but the overall feel of this movie is one of regret for what we are destroying. The viewer journeys through Al Gore's timeline from the point he first hears of global warming, to how he investigates it further, to the attempts he has made to bring about change. The movie provides statistics related to temperature, ocean levels, and more are astounding and the visual images of these facts are horrifying. Although one might think it is all doom and gloom, the movie ends with a message of hope and solutions scroll across the screen as the credits rise. With the exception a small portion of the movie referring to the loss of his presidential election, the movie held everything together well.
I recommend this movie to everyone and hope that those who see it spread the word. One note of caution: if you have younger, sensitive children, this may not be suitable for them... yet. However, children ages 9 and up need to see this movie. This opens up another door for adults and children to join together and discuss the problem and solutions we can all contribute to. An Inconvenient Truth is a must see.
From Hazel Stevens, Sierra Club volunteer
Al Gore's critically acclaimed movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," offers one of the best opportunities we have had to focus the public's attention on the crisis of global warming. Although the situation is urgent, the movie shows that solutions are readily available and disaster can be avoided with American ingenuity, leadership, and resolve.
Based on Al Gore's book of the same name, "An Inconvenient Truth" brings together cutting-edge research from leading scientists around the world, and explains their findings in an easy to understand format of photographs, charts, cartoons, and other visuals. Even the most dubious and scientifically challenged friend or relative will be able to understand such creative documentation of the problem, and yes, be entertained at the same time. Intermixed between the scientific facts are personal observations showing the "real" Mr. Gore and why educating the public on global warming has become his primary focus.
If many scientists are correct, we have approximately ten years to divert a worldwide catastrophe. Climate change has caused disasters around the world, with many occurring in the poorest sections of the globe. America found that 2005 was the hottest year and worst storm season on record. Insurance companies in the U.S. have seen a 15-fold increase in loss claims over the last thirty years. Viewe rs of "An Inconvenient Truth" are able to reach their own conclusion that this is not just a political or scientific issue, but a moral one.
In spite of the heavy subject matter, Al Gore's movie has an optimistic and positive tone, using humor and wit. More time could have been devoted to solutions, but it was emphasized that even small steps taken by all could make a huge difference. Recommendations involved raising fuel economy for cars and light trucks, buying fuel efficient vehicles, using existing renewable energy technology, working to reduce greenhouse gases, installing energy efficient home and building equipment, utilizing public transportation, and insisting that lawmakers act to stop global warming.
Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." As is made so clear from Al Gore's movie, global warming matters and only we can stop it. If you do not see this movie, take your friends and relatives, and act on its information, then you will be held responsible for the loss of our beautiful planet to future generations.
From John Barry, Sierra Club staff
Al Gore's Star Turn
OK, so he didn't win the presidency, but the consolation prize for Al Gore may be to win an Oscar for best actor. Or best documentary. Who would of thunk it, but here's Al Gore doing a star turn in a surprisingly engaging film about global warming called "An Inconvenient Truth." In fact, it's not a film about global warming, it's a film about Al Gore doing a powerpoint presentation about global warming. Doesn't exactly have hit written all over it, but its opening weekends have broken all box office records for documentaries. And it's garnering lots of positive reviews from critics.
On the film's opening night in San Francisco, I led a group of Sierra Club newsletter editors and Web editors, in town for a weekend workshop, to the Embarcadero Cinema for the 8:30 showing of the movie. All the showings on opening night were sold out, but fortunately we bought the 28 tickets in advance.
Al Gore is not a scientist and he doesn't pretend to be, but he lays out a pretty convincing case that global warming is here, it's human caused, and we'd better get up off our butts and do something to stop it. The film is extremely well edited, and jumps from various sites where Gore is giving his presentation to live audiences, as well as including compelling images of calving glaciers in the Arctic. He is at the center of the movie, and holds his own suprisingly well, with a slow, almost poetic, preacher-like Garrison Keillerish voice over. Friendly, earnest, and with a few jokes thrown in.
He uses a lot of graphs, probably too many, but one of the film's most effective scenes is when he is showing how big the increase in carbon dioxide has been in the past century and how much more it is projected to grow in the next fifty years, and he employs a stage lift to show, literally, how the carbon dioxide levels go off the chart. The movie poster calls it "the most terrifying movie you will ever see." Maybe, maybe not. But it certainly could be one of the most important.
From James H. Baker, Chair, Chickasaw Group of the Sierra Club's Tennessee Chapter
Some members and friends of the Chickasaw Group went to an evening showing on opening day in Memphis, which was Friday, June 16. For the first week, only one movie theatre in Memphis showed the film, on two screens. At the 7:00pm showing we made up approximately a third of the audience. In the 7:45pm showing in another auditorium, the audience numbered about 150. Weather was not a factor in the lack of attendance. In our post-screening discussions, we agreed that the movie would have drawn many more if better marketed and screened at a popular theatre in mid-town Memphis. In our auditorium, the audience was overwhelmingly 40 and 50 somethings, with very few young people. Checking with others that attended an opening day matinee revealed that "a couple of dozen" people were in the theatre.
The general consensus of my Sierra friends and colleagues is that this is an important film with many good points. Some of these are:
Becki said, "Al Gore's efforts are important to the environmental movement. He puts the message in a way that common people can understand it and want to learn more."
Joe said, "Gore's strength as a communicator and as a leader is his ability to give pertinent facts, bring his audience to a level of great concern about the problem, and then close it out with optimism and a tangible action plan. He motivates us to act, like good leaders do."
David said, "Spiced with poetry and iconic images of earth from space, An Inconvenient Truth makes the case that continued human existence should not be a partisan issue. Al Gore types on his laptop, often in the back seat of a car, and generally shows himself to be the humorous, articulate, and passionate environmentalist he's always been. Gore talks a lot of sense in this movie. Humanity's future depends on the sense Gore talks in this movie. Rather than being too shrill, An Inconvenient Truth may not be shrill enough."
Clark said, "The thing that moved me was understanding just how long ago, he really 'got it' from his university professor. He has followed that lead out of curiosity for decades, and he is still following it. If he can't put this message out better than anyone else on the planet, he will die trying, and that is exactly what he will do with the rest of his life."
The film itself had a few points that could have been done better. Those are:
As stated above, there wasn't any advertising on television. Maybe An Inconvenient Truth did not have an advertising budget, but several of us - including Julian, Bill and I, believe it could have been marketed better. By contrast, there have recently been many TV previews of movies featuring impossible missions, comic book mutants, the childhood of the anti-Christ, south of the border tag-team wrestling, and talking cars.
While the United States is global warming's "800-pound gorilla", the movie needed to show that China and India are trying real hard to "join the club". With their great populations and increased disposable income, they are buying more cars and other consumer goods every day - consumer goods that consume more energy in the form of coal, oil and natural gas, and release even more global warming CO2.
I think it was a mistake to present the solutions while the credits were rolling. Some moviegoers habitually leave when credits begin to roll, thereby missing the point entirely.
Several of my Sierra friends and colleagues summed up the movie. Clark said, "The simple message of this movie is about extinction of life on earth. And once you get that it is not to be taken lightly." David stated, "This is the kind of movie that shouldn't be seen just by the blue-state choir. The rest of America needs a dose of the Truth as well. Trick people into seeing An Inconvenient Truth. Tell them it stars Paris Hilton. Tell them www.climatecrisis.net has naughty pictures. Anything to keep this movie from becoming just one of the artifacts archaeologists from another planet will find in our rubble."
In closing, and to counter those who will not see the movie because Al Gore is on their Not-Pleased List because of his politics, I say this, global warming is not a Democrat, Independent, or Republican problem. It is the problem of all of humanity, and we better start dealing with it as such, or we will be like that clueless frog cooking in the pot of water slowly brought from cool to boiling. He never saw it coming. Al Gore makes sure we know it is already here. What will we do about it?
Up to Top
HOME |
Email Signup |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Terms of Use |
© 2008 Sierra Club
|
