My Review of PROMISED LAND: Damon & Krasinski's Underrated Film

 

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This review was originally written in 2016. It is being posted for the first time now.)

One of my all-time favorite people, PR queen Lauren Peteroy (now Kelly), was working the Palm Springs Film Festival a while back, at which Matt Damon was a keynote speaker. As part of his introduction, Damon said something along the lines of, "John Krasinski and I wrote a movie called Promised Land a few years ago, and I think about seven people saw it."

Well, I guess Ms. Peteroy, Sam Ytuarte, Jimmy Kelly, Andrew Meyer, "Big Fro" John and Pauline Frascella and I are those seven people. We all happen to like Promised Land, which at its core, is a story about America's long-term transition from a blue collar farmland to a city-based, technology-and-greed driven corporation of a country. The "Good Ol' Days" are represented by the sincere (but sarcastic) Dustin Noble (Krasinski), whose farm was supposedly destroyed by the marginally dangerous process known as "fracking," during which natural gas conglomerates drill deep into the ground to find potentially profitable land and resources. Dustin works for and supports "Athena," a small environmental group that educates farm towns on the dangerous pitfalls of fracking. 

The greedy-and-selfish present is symbolized by chief salesman Steve Butler (Damon) and the $9 billion corporation he represents, Global Crosspower Solutions (referred to simply as "Global" throughout the film). Steve and his sales partner, Sue (an unspectacular Frances McDormand), arrive in another small Pennsylvania town thinking they are going to buy up all the land in a few days, as per usual. 

However, if that were the case, the movie would end in the first 20 minutes. Lo and behold, Steve and Sue are met with opposition from the town rep, Gerry Richards (a slimy Ken Strunk), a knowledgeable high school science teacher named Frank Yates (the legendary Hal Holbrook) and Dustin, who always seems to be one step ahead of Steve.

Along the way we also meet Alice (Rosemarie DeWitt), a cute, flirtatious and single school teacher, who just so happens to be available to both Steve and Dustin, two good-looking men who are also single and dallying about town. Doesn't it always work that way in the movies? Of course a romantic triangle ensues, though it is thankfully tepid and not overly competitive. Steve actually likes Alice, whereas Dustin appears to be using her as a pawn in his amusing chess match with Steve.

Damon's character does have some depth. Steve too grew up on a farm, but when the town's floundering economy got swallowed up by the urban expansion of corporate America, he decided to switch over to the other side of things. Steve has come to believe in "Fuck You Money," a concept he explains to some of the Pennsylvania town's struggling farmers. This speech does not end well for him.

All things considered, Promised Land is a none-too-subtle metaphor that actually works for me. Damon is in workman mode, Krasinski is energetic and entertaining, DeWitt is charming and Holbrook always brings gravitas, a la Morgan Freeman. 

One of my favorite parts of the film is its truly tricky twist in the final 15 minutes. I didn't see that one coming.

Frascella's Score: 9 out of 10 

MY UP-TO-DATE ARCHIVE OF ALL REVIEWS AND RECENT MOVIES SEEN

Inglourious Basterds (10/10) 

The Social Network (10/10)

The Wolf of Wall Street (10/10)

Almost Famous (10/10)

Training Day (10/10)

25th Hour (10/10)

The 40-Year Old Virgin (10/10)

Cinderella Man (10/10)

Moneyball (10/10)

Crash (10/10)

Bridesmaids (10/10)

City of God (10/10)

Sideways (10/10)

Midnight in Paris (10/10)

Boyhood (10/10)

Zero Dark Thirty (9.5/10)

The Departed (9.5/10)

Birdman (9.5/10)

The Irishman (9.5/10)
Up in the Air (9.5/10)
Steve Jobs (9.5/10)
Django Unchained (9.5/10) 
Collateral (9.5/10)
No Country for Old Men (9.5/10)
The Wrestler (9.5/10)

Ex Machina (9.5/10)

Memento (9.5/10)

Sin City (9.5/10)
Her (9.5/10)
The Drop (9.5/10)
Zodiac (9.5/10)
Kramer vs. Kramer (9.5/10)
Margin Call (9.5/10)

Children of Men (9.5/10)

A Star is Born (9.5/10)
Office Space (9/10)
The Hateful Eight (9/10) - Review Coming Soon
Marriage Story (9/10)
Hannah and Her Sisters (9/10)
Mystic River (9/10)
L.A. Confidential (9/10)
Lady Bird (9/10)
Stay (9/10)
Gone Girl (9/10)
Nocturnal Animals (9/10)
45 Years (9/10)
The Edge of Seventeen (9/10)
Bernie (9/10)
Lucky Number Slevin (9/10)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (9/10)
Tape (9/10)
A Perfect Murder (9/10)

Promised Land (9/10) 
Wanderlust (8.5/10)

War Dogs (8.5/10)
The Founder (8.5/10)
Jackie Brown (8.5/10) - Future Review
In Bruges (8.5/10)

Split (8.5/10)

Bad Moms (8.5/10)

Basquiat (8.5/10)
Love, Actually (8.5/10)

Moonlight (8/10)

Citizen Kane (8/10)
Pretty Woman (8/10)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (7.5/10) - No Review Available
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (7.5/10) - No Review Available
Joker (7.5/10)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (7.5/10)

The Revenant (7.5/10)
The Good Shepherd (7.5/10)

The Shallows (7.5/10)
Focus (7.5/10) 

The Night Before (7.5/10)
The Walk (7/10)

Mank (7/10)

10 Cloverfield Lane (7/10)
Loving (7/10) - No review available
Death Proof (7/10) - No review available
Hail, Caesar! (7/10) - No review available
Escape Room (7/10)

Crazy, Not Insane (7/10) - No review available 
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (6.5/10)
A Most Violent Year (6.5/10) - No review available

The Pixar Story (6.5/10) - No review available 

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (6.5/10)
The Shape of Water (6/10) - discussed in this review
The Boy (6/10) - No review available
The Accountant (6/10) - No review available
Bridge of Spies (6/10) - No review available
The Firm (6/10) - No review available

Blaze (6/10) - No review available 
Muhammad Ali: Say My Name (6/10) - No review available

Joy (5.5/10)
Taking Lives (5.5/10) - No review available

La La Land (5.5/10)
Pulp Fiction (5.5/10) - Future Review

Greenland (5.5/10) - No review available
Belichick and Saban: The Art of Coaching (5.5/10)
The Visit (5/10) - discussed in this review
The Mule (5/10) - No review available
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (5/10)
Make Love Great Again (5/10) - No review available
Molly's Game (5/10)
Set It Up (5/10)

Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art (5/10) - No review available 
Get a Job (5/10) - No review available
The Interpreter (5/10) - No review available
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (5/10) - No review available
Reservoir Dogs (4.5/10) - Future Review

Tenet (4.5/10)
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (4.5/10) - No review available
Brooklyn (4.5/10) - discussed in this review, and this review
Ocean's 8 (4/10)

Alex Cross (4/10) - No review available 

Homefront (4/10) - No review available 
Everything Must Go (4/10) - No review available
Why Him? (3.5/10) - No review available
The Program (3/10)
Open Water 3: Cage Dive (3/10) - No review available
Pitch Perfect 3 (2/10)
Shut In (2/10) - No review available
Premonition (2/10) - No review available

Inside Man: Most Wanted (2/10) - No review available 

Rings (1.5/10)
Mother's Day (1.5/10)
I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (0/10) - No review available