Oh, get your head out of the gutter. And no, this has nothing to do with Battlestar Galactica either. Fracking is the process of drilling through rock to reveal and siphon off the natural gas inside. Unfortunately, there is the occasional side-effect of, well, everything around the drilling spot getting contaminated and dying. Bummer.
It’s a controversial topic which means that Matt Damon will have to turn on all the charm to get a small farming community to sign over their land to his $9 billion company, and can’t afford any distractions like perhaps falling for the girl of the one guy who opposes all his work. Oh, wait this is Hollywood.
Promised Land” is the new contemporary drama directed by Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “Milk”). Matt Damon plays Steve Butler, an ace corporate salesman who is sent along with his partner, Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand), to close a key rural town in his company’s expansion plans. With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company’s offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (John Krasinski), as well as the interest of a local woman (Rosemarie DeWitt). Promised Land explores America at the crossroads where big business and the strength of small-town community converge.
The last time Matt Damon wrote/starred in anything for Gus Van Sant, it resulted in him walking away with an Oscar for Good Will Hunting. Somehow I’m not quite getting that same potential vibe from this one. Granted, it may just be the trailer that’s very light on what I’m suspecting will be some serious back and forth between Damon and Jon Krasinski, who also co-wrote the script.
The fracking issue (and I’m using that as a noun there, not an expletive) is a hot topic currently though, especially here in our very own little corner of the world, so certainly having Matt Damon take on a boobless Erin Brokovich role certainly can’t help to raise people’s awareness about it.
Last Updated: September 25, 2012
