''Promised Land'' is a 2012 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Gus Van Sant and starring
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
,
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office''. He also served as a producer and occasional director of the series throughout its nine ...
,
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Em ...
,
Rosemarie DeWitt and
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called ''Mark Twain Tonight!'' ...
. The screenplay is written by Damon and Krasinski based on a story by
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...
. ''Promised Land'' follows two petroleum landmen who visit a rural town in an attempt to buy
drilling rights
Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfac ...
from the local residents.
Damon was originally attached to direct the film, but he was replaced by Van Sant. Filming took place mainly in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
from early to mid-2012. During filming and afterward, the film's highlighting of the resource extraction process
hydraulic fracturing
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...
, known as "fracking," emerged as a topic of debate.
The film had a limited release in the United States on , 2012 and followed with a nationwide expansion on , 2013. The film had its international premiere and received Special Mention Award at the
63rd Berlin International Film Festival
The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival took place in Berlin, Germany between 7 and 17 February 2013. Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai was announced as the President of the Jury and his film '' The Grandmaster'' was the opening fil ...
in February 2013. It received mixed reviews from critics, although the
National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
named it one of the
top ten films of 2012, and was a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing just $8 million against a $15 million budget.
Plot
Steve Butler has caught the eyes of top management at his employer, Global Crosspower Solutions, an energy company that specializes in obtaining natural gas trapped underground through a process known as
fracking
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...
. Butler has an excellent track record for quickly and cheaply persuading land owners to sign mineral rights leases that grant drilling rights over to his employer. Butler and his partner Sue Thomason arrive in an economically struggling Pennsylvania farming town whose citizens are proud of having family farms passed from one generation to the next.
Coming from a town and a life very similar to that of the people he is now determined to win over on behalf of Global, Butler tells the story of how his own town died after the local
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
assembly plant closed. The idea of a town surviving solely on family farms being passed down through generations as a viable economy is one that he can no longer accept. He claims to be offering the town its last chance. Butler spends some pleasant after-hours time with Alice, a teacher he meets in a bar.
The community seems willing to accept Global's offer, until an elderly, local high school science teacher, Frank Yates, who happened to be a successful engineer in his working life, raises the question of the safety of fracking during a town meeting. It's decided that the people will vote in a few weeks whether or not to take the offer. After hearing about the vote, Dustin Noble, an unknown environmental advocate, starts a grassroots campaign against Global, motivated by a tale of his family losing its Nebraska dairy farm after the herd died as a result of Global's industry-standard fracking process.
Butler begins to meet a great deal of resistance in town. Noble seems to be winning over nearly everyone, including Alice. One night Butler receives a package from Global that includes an enlarged copy of a photograph of dead cattle on a field that Noble said came from his family's Nebraska farm. The enlargement shows that an object thought to be a silo is, in fact, a lighthouse, which are nonexistent in Nebraska, revealing that Noble fabricated his story and deceived the people. The picture was actually taken in
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...
, where Global is in the midst of a lawsuit over environmental complications that were probably caused by their fracking practices.
Butler informs the town's mayor of the deception, who then informs the rest of the town. He returns to the hotel to find Noble loading his truck, preparing to leave town. Noble accidentally reveals that he knows the picture with the lighthouse was taken in Lafayette. Butler realizes the only way Noble could have known this information is if he were also employed by Global, and that Noble's job had been to discredit the environmental movement and convince the town to vote in favor of Global's offer. He arranged for Butler to receive the "confidential" photos and engineered the entire public relations effort.
At a town meeting the next day, the citizens are prepared to vote on Global's efforts to buy drilling rights to their property. Butler talks to them about how the barn in the picture reminds him of his grandfather's barn. He reveals that Noble has manipulated them and is employed by Global. Butler leaves the meeting to find Thomason on the phone with Global. She tells him he's fired and that she is leaving for New York. Butler walks to Alice's home and she welcomes him in.
Cast
Production
''Promised Land'' is directed by
Gus Van Sant based on a screenplay by
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
and
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office''. He also served as a producer and occasional director of the series throughout its nine ...
, who are film producers along with
Chris Moore. In interviews, Krasinski and Damon said that the idea for the movie was partially inspired by an investigative series of stories in
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
by
Ian Urbina
Ian Urbina (born March 29, 1972) is an American investigative reporter who has written for a variety of outlets, including ''The New York Times'' and ''The Atlantic''. Urbina is the author of The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York T ...
, called "Drilling Down", about fracking. The screenplay was based on a story by
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...
. Krasinski came up with the film's premise and developed the idea with Eggers. They pitched the idea to Damon, suggesting that both Damon and Krasinski would write and star in the film. The project was set up at
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
with Damon attached as director in October 2011, in what would have been his directorial debut. Filming was scheduled to begin in early 2012.
In January 2012, Damon stepped down as director due to scheduling conflicts but remained involved with the project. Damon contacted Gus Van Sant, who directed him in the 1997 film ''
Good Will Hunting
''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver.
The film received positive r ...
'', and Van Sant joined the project as director. The project was in
turnaround at Warner Bros., and by February,
Focus Features
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...
and
Participant Media
Participant Media, LLC is an American Film industry, film production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment intended to spur social change. The company finances and co-produces film and television content, as well as ...
acquired rights to produce the film. The title was announced to be ''Promised Land''. With a production budget of ,
filming began in Pennsylvania in late April 2012.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided the production company in tax credits since filming would provide jobs and revenue.
More than eighty percent of the crew were hired out of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. Filming mostly took place in
Avonmore, Pennsylvania
Avonmore is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 901 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
Geography
Avonmore is located at (40.52775 ...
, which was the main setting for the film's rural town of McKinley. Additional filming locations for the town were locations in
Armstrong County including
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
,
Worthington
Worthington may refer to:
People
* Worthington (surname)
* Worthington family, a British noble family
Businesses
* Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington's
* Worthington Corporation, founded as a pump manufacturer in 1845, later a dive ...
, and Slate Lick. Other filming locations in Pennsylvania were
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Delmont,
Export
An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...
, and
West Mifflin
West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census. It is named after Thomas Mifflin, 1st Governor of Pennsylvania, signer of the Un ...
. Filming also took place at the Grand Concourse at
Station Square
Station Square is a indoor and outdoor shopping and entertainment complex located in the South Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States across the Monongahela River from the Golden Triangle of downtown Pittsburgh. Station S ...
in Pittsburgh. Several hundred extras were hired for the film, and filming lasted for .
The movie was financed by Image Productions, a company owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi.
The film score was composed by
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...
. Three songs by
The Milk Carton Kids
The Milk Carton Kids are an American indie folk duo from Eagle Rock, California, United States, consisting of singers and guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan, who began making music together in early 2011. The band has recorded and rel ...
including Snake Eyes, The Ash & Clay and Jewel of June were also written for the film.
Oil industry controversy
''Promised Land'' was criticized by the energy industry for its portrayal of the resource extraction process
hydraulic fracturing
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...
, colloquially known as "fracking".
The portrayal was first reported in April 2012 by filmmakers raising funds for the pro-fracking documentary ''
FrackNation
''FrackNation'' is a feature documentary created by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, the directors of ''Not Evil Just Wrong'' and ''Mine Your Own Business'', and Magdalena Segieda, that aims to address what the filmmakers say is misinformation a ...
''. They said, "''Promised Land'' will increase unfounded concerns about fracking."
Phelim McAleer
Ann McElhinney (born 1964) and Phelim McAleer (born 1967) are conservative Irish documentary filmmakers and ''New York Times'' best-selling authors. They have written and produced the political documentaries ''FrackNation'', '' Not Evil Just Wr ...
, the director of ''FrackNation'', said
Dimock, Pennsylvania
Dimock is an unincorporated community in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community is located along Pennsylvania Route 29, south of Montrose. Dimock has a post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer ...
was the likely inspiration for ''Promised Land''. McAleer said despite Dimock families' claims that fracking activity contaminated their water, the state and
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
scientists did not find anything wrong. In September 2012,
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
reported that a group of residents from
Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
Armstrong County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,558. The county seat is Kittanning. The county was organized on March 12, 1800, from parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Lycomin ...
were protesting the film and formed a Facebook group. The group said, "They filmed this movie in our backyard. They told us it would be fair to drilling. It’s not. We’re p*ssed
ic" Mike Knapp, one of the organizers of the Facebook group said, "One of the things that really aggravates me, is that they seem to have a very condescending view" of farmers as portrayed in the film.
Krasinski, who co-wrote the screenplay and plays Dustin, said the film's original premise involved
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
. Krasinski said wind power was replaced by fracking as a more relevant backdrop based on news coverage in recent years.
''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' reported, "The procedure has caused concern due in part to the chemicals injected into the wells for drilling, which may taint nearby drinking water." It said Damon had posted in 2010 a
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
video to promote the
Working Families Party
The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Nev ...
, which works "to prevent risky natural gas drilling". ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' said ''Promised Land'' reflected a trend about fracking since the release of the 2010 documentary film ''
Gasland
''Gasland'' is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Josh Fox. It focuses on communities in the United States where natural gas drilling activity was a concern and, specifically, on hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), a method ...
'', which was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Documentary
The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. They have since been besto ...
.
Leading up to the film's release, a spokesperson for
Independent Petroleum Association of America The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) is a lobbying group for oil and gas producers in the United States.
Overview
It was founded on June 10, 1929, by President Herbert Hoover. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
In 2019, ''P ...
said, "We have to address the concerns that are laid out in these types of films." The industry planned to send scientific studies to film critics, to distribute leaflets to film audiences, and to use social media like Facebook and Twitter as a response to the film.
Where the industry launched "direct attacks" at ''Gasland'', it instead sought to portray ''Promised Land'' as "derivative, condescending and clichéd". In Pennsylvania, the industry group Marcellus Shale Coalition bought a 16-second onscreen ad to be shown at 75 percent of theaters in the state at the same time ''Promised Land'' was released.
James Schamus, chief executive of the film's distributor
Focus Features
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...
said, "We've been surprised at the emergence of what looks like a concerted campaign targeting the film even before anyone's seen it."
As the film was released, he said, "Fracking is a great premise for real drama. It represents Americans deeply conflicted about how to deal with these issues." He compared the industry's stealth campaign against the film to the one depicted within the film.
Release
Theatrical run
''Promised Land'' had a
limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on , 2012.
The film was released in and grossed an estimated $53,000 on its first day, a "sobering" average of $2,120. For the opening weekend, ''Promised Land'' grossed an estimated $190,000.
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray began ...
reported before the film's wide release the following week, "It's unlikely that it will be able to pull many people away from the various other appealing options in theaters right now." ''Promised Land'' expanded to on , 2013. It grossed over the weekend, which the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' judged as "a bad start" even with its budget. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a "B" average grade on an A+ to F scale. ''The Los Angeles Times'' said the grade and "middling reviews" indicated the film was unlikely to be a success. By the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed $12.3 million.
The film had its international premiere at the
63rd Berlin International Film Festival
The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival took place in Berlin, Germany between 7 and 17 February 2013. Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai was announced as the President of the Jury and his film '' The Grandmaster'' was the opening fil ...
in February 2013
where Gus Van Sant won a Special Mention.
Critical reception
''Promised Land'' received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 53%, based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 5.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The earnest and well-intentioned ''Promised Land'' sports a likable cast, but it also suffers from oversimplified characterizations and a frustrating final act."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
gave the film a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''
The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' reported that most critics felt that the film did not reach its full potential.
''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' film critic
A.O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis.
Early life
Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...
praised ''Promised Land'' as a film that "works" mainly "by putting character ahead of story" and by "inviting the actors to be warm, funny and prickly".
Liam Lacey of ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' is critical of the film: "Apart from its warm, gentle tone, much about ''Promised Land'' simply isn't good, especially the inconsistencies in the screenplay. After the mood-setting first half, things start to unravel."
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''Promised Land''informational page at
TakePart
TakePart was a website operated by Participant Media, a motion picture studio that focuses on issues of social justice. TakePart was founded in 2008 to promote Participant Media's films as well as make viewers aware of the social advocacy efforts ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Promised Land
2012 films
2012 drama films
American drama films
2010s English-language films
Environmental films
Film controversies in the United States
Film controversies in the United Arab Emirates
Films directed by Gus Van Sant
Films set in Pennsylvania
Films shot in Pittsburgh
Focus Features films
Hydraulic fracturing
Films with screenplays by John Krasinski
Films with screenplays by Matt Damon
Films produced by Matt Damon
Films scored by Danny Elfman
Participant (company) films
Pearl Street Films films
2010s American films