Movie watchers are very fickle folks. Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth has a way of slapping people awake or knocking them out cold. In Berlin they loved the film, and in Bangkok theaters people walked out. The good folks over at yahoonews.com give us this:
U.S. critics swooned over “An Inconvenient Truth,” the documentary film about global warming starring ex-Vice President Al Gore, but international response has ranged from raves in Oslo to yawns in Bangkok. Promoted as a true-life disaster flick — “It will shake you to your core … By far, the most terrifying film you will ever see,” the trailer thunders — it is Gore’s 80-minute environmental argument about the need for immediate action to combat climate change.
In eco-friendly Germany, where Gore attended last week’s Berlin premiere, the film was a multi-media event, covered by major newspapers and several television news shows. It drew specific praise from German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel at a news conference on energy.
“It carries a strong message and hard fact with Al Gore as the presenter but it is a boring documentary presentation that could have been made more fun and exciting with some editing techniques,” Bangkok film critic Natakwang Sirasoonthorn said.
An Inconvenient Truth” has grossed more than $23.7 million in the United States since it opened in May, distributed by Paramount Pictures. That makes it the third-highest grossing documentary, behind No. 1 “Fahrenheit 9/11” and second-ranked “March of the Penguins” — both of which have been running far longer.
But foreign box office receipts for “Truth” have totaled only $4.1 million, compared with $103.3 million for “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
I can understand the mixed reviews on this film. I saw it back when it first opened in Canada and although I liked it, it did leave a bit to be desired when it came to entertainment and film style. But if you want to see ten thousand charts that all look the same, those desires will be fufilled.
On the positive side An Inconvenient Truth is one of the few documentaries on the environment that didn’t make me feel helpless, it gives concrete ways to fix what we have broken in our world. And it’s also an interesting peek into Al Gore’s life.
But as some may remember from when he was running for president, Gore does tend to be a bit monotone and dry.
So it makes sense that certain parts of Europe just wouldn’t have the patience to see a film about the environment that has Al Gore as the star. But it’s still a solid documentary that I always recommend to people. How about everyone out there? Would you reccomend this movie?
