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Release Date: May 24th, 2006 (Landmark Sunshine Cinemas) by Paramount Classics. Directed by Davis Guggenheim. BASIC PREMISE: A documentary about Al Gore’s campaign to raise awareness of global warming. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: Al Gore knows how to give an eloquent, entertaining lecture about the threats of global warming on Planet Earth. He uses fancy tools such as Power Point with impressive graphics and photographs to illustrate his many points so that everyone can understand them. However, he does not do very good job of turning these important observations into a practical argument to prevent global warming from continuing. Gore had once tried to convince congress to focus its attention on the global warming issue, but instead, it had other matters to focus its attention on. It would been interesting to explore why they didn’t care about it enough and still don’t. Interviews with these congressmen would have helped to show their perspective, not just Gore’s. Gore is definitely not the only expert who realizes the significance of global warming, so why couldn’t director Davis Guggenheim include interviews with scientists working in that field? Unintentionally, this seems more like a vanity project for to improve Gore’s reputation rather than an in-depth analysis of a significant issue. Among all of the pretty-to-look-at photographs showing how icy regions of the planet are melting away or other obvious changes because of global warming, Gore doesn’t say anything new or surprising about the issue of global warming. SPIRITUAL VALUE: Other than an interesting interview where Gore says that he was inspired to take on the issue of global warming after he nearly lost his son in a car accident, there’s nothing to really take away from this film unless you never heard of global warming before. INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: Too little insight and not enough synthesis of the facts/evidence into well-balanced, feasible solutions. NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 3 IN A NUTSHELL: Easy-to-follow and engaging to look at, but lacking in enough insight, adequate synthesis and feasible rather than simple/optimistic solutions. The recent documentary ,The Great Warming, has more say about global warming in more practical terms and with much more insight. RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: VHS/DVD Main Page Alphabetical Menu The "I" Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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