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Promised Land

Name: Promised Land
Genre: Drama
Released: December 28, 2012
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Frances McDormand, Hal Holbrook, John Krasinski, Matt Damon

2012

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Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critics

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Mixed or average reviews based on 65 Ratings

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6.0

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6.0	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 65 Ratings

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PROMISED LAND

Movie Details & Credits

Focus Features | Release Date: December 28, 2012 | R

Starring: Frances McDormand, Hal Holbrook, John Krasinski, Matt Damon

Summary: A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources.

Director: Gus Van Sant

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 106 min

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Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman

Jan 2, 2013

Urgent, heartfelt, and not-quite-as-predictable-as-you-think environmental rabble-rouser. Read full review

Peter Travers

Dec 27, 2012

Director Gus Van Sant finds the human side of a knotty issue. No polemics. Just the face of a new America in crisis. Read full review

Connie Ogle

Jan 4, 2013

The characters drive this story, not ideology. Damon and McDormand are terrific as co-workers seeking the same goal, though they see their work from different points of view. Read full review

Michael Phillips

Dec 27, 2012

More an argument than a fully fleshed-out drama ... The script is unconvincing; two key narrative twists, one related to the other, are deeply hokey. Read full review

David Denby

Jan 13, 2013

Like so many earnestly conceived morality tales, Promised Land is built around a man's quandaries. Any actor less skilled and sympathetic than Damon might have betrayed the material into obviousness. [14 Jan. 2013, p.78]

Ann Hornaday

Dec 28, 2012

Despite their Everyman appeal, Damon and Krasinski don't create much by way of emotional investment, instead becoming mirror images of their most mild-mannered, white-bread selves. Read full review

Ed Gonzalez

Dec 5, 2012

Gus Van Sant's new film offends for how it views the struggles of the landowners at the heart of its story as subservient to their oppressor's triumph of the spirit. Read full review

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User Reviews

MovieBuff2013

Jan 5, 2013

Great acting and a great story. Worth seeing with all of the big blockbusters out in the theaters today. Like small town America, this film captures the charm and spirit of those of us who still believe in an American Dream that isn't filled with greed and the false promises of big corporations.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

CD28498

Apr 12, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a movie where basically a team from a large company comes in wants to buy land from a small town for their oil company's expansion project. Since this small town has not been having the best time money wise they at first welcome it then a small group of people then realize how this land should not be used not be wasted this way and that it is their land.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

hollyv

Jan 16, 2013

The take away is this. Farm families may not have loads of money but they have land. The land stays with the family for generations... Land is permanent. Fracking doesn't destroy the land, it just makes it no longer suitable for family farming. When this happens? The money is (more oftenThe take away is this. Farm families may not have loads of money but they have land. The land stays with the family for generations... Land is permanent. Fracking doesn't destroy the land, it just makes it no longer suitable for family farming. When this happens? The money is (more often than not) quickly spent. Money is not permanent. The natural gas companies don't live and farm there, so this works for them. For the farm families? They've been there for over 100 years. I know. I grew up in an area now overrun with fracking. In Pennsylvania, these are really family farms... not the thousand acre corn fields of the west, but 100-200 acre dairy farms.

If an energy company wanted to dig for coal on your land, we would assume that the land would be lost for farming. Natural gas is currently just as destructive - in a different way. What we need is a safe way to extract energy from the planet. It's this race to resources that the movie focuses on -- can the energy companies get those leases signed quickly, move in with equipment, remove all the natural gas and get out of town before the locals become politicized. Politics, corporate greed, conspiracy theories and lobbying groups come together in this film. There's also a good twist on this dynamic that will leave you thinking...… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

MonsieurEames

Jan 21, 2013

Average, but Promised Land benefits from Gus Van Sant's steady hand and some solid work from a talented cast. I don't see why everyone was so upset by the ending. I thought it was satisfying.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

cheeseberger11

Sep 3, 2013

Promised Land is solid flick with a good message at the end of a plot which wasn't as predictable as you would think. Not one of Damon's best performances but not bad.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

worleyjamers

Jun 4, 2013

Promised Land is an adequate political drama. It has a decent screenplay and some good performances, but nothing special here. The film, while solid, lacked urgency or any real conviction; it seemed like these actors were stuck in a bland movie

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Nazgulero

Apr 23, 2013

This movie was so poorly written, the acting so bad, that I did not even care about the actual subject matter. This could easily be Matt Damon's worst performance ever. How believable is it that he is the top sales guy for a billion dollar company He behaves like a loser salesman who cannotThis movie was so poorly written, the acting so bad, that I did not even care about the actual subject matter. This could easily be Matt Damon's worst performance ever. How believable is it that he is the top sales guy for a billion dollar company He behaves like a loser salesman who cannot even sell a used car to a blind man...stuttering, mumbling, no eye contact. But yes, he gets a promotion.
I really wonder who puts down money to get this crap produced. Because it will for sure never earn itself back.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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