The Vintage Village Theatre is one of my favorite places to watch a movie, but I was skeptical this time as I took my seat in the front row of one of the small theatres. The movie was entertaining and the environment, as usual, pleasant and comfortable, even from the front row.

“Promised Land” is about decisions. It’s about knowing your product and selling it “as advertised”. Ultimately, to me it is about the point at which ethics trumps money.

As farming communities and those who own and work the land are hit hard by the tough economy, natural gas company Global sends in Steve Butler (Matt Damon) and Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand). They are the star sales team at Global, convincing land owners in small towns to lease land to the company with promises of a large return after the land is fracked and natural gas is found.

They operate the same, it seems, at every town, renting a car with local looks and plates, stopping at a local store to buy clothes that “fit in” and moving in for the kill (closing the deal) rather quickly. In “Promised Land”, Steve and Sue don’t expect the fight they get from high school science teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) and suddenly ever present environmentalist Dustin Noble (John Krasinski).

The issues posed by this movie are tough and the transformation of Damon’s character hopefully predictable (Does he change the way you hope he will when he has all the information?). There’s not a lot of action, but the movie kept my attention and will keep me wondering.

Bill said that “Promised Land” was a “nice little appetizer to get me interested. I am a naturally inquisitive person and ignorance is no longer bliss. I need to know more about this issue.” Sue added that she liked the movie and Lois said, “It was good. It brings awareness to decisions small towns have to make and it showed both sides.”

See local Coronado movie times here.

Directed by Gus Van Sant

Screenplay by Matt Damon and John Krasinski

Running Time 106 minutes

Rated R (for language)

Kellee Hearther

Online Editor

eCoronado.com

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