By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Country: united_states
Year: 2006
Running time: 100
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/
Bruce says: “For the past twenty years Al Gore has been pursuing environmental issues and he has spent the past seven years touring the world with his environmental lectures focused on global warming. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, based on Gore’s road show, is the one of the best college lectures I’ve ever attended. It makes me sorry that none of my professors had multi-million dollar visual aids to perk things up a bit.
“Gore now appears more relaxed and self assured than he ever did when campaigning for the Presidency. There is speculation that AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH was made to further his political aspirations and get him back in the arena for 2008. Gore does make some jokes about the 2000 election and has a maudlin diversion or two about his personal life, but most of the film is thankfully focused on its central theme.
“Global warming is presented to the audience as a matter of fact and scientific evidence. The subject is well researched and statistical data is presented concisely and effectively. Topics the film covers are: the rise in temperature and carbon dioxide levels to the highs in the last 600,000 years; new patterns of drought and flooding; the melting of the polar ice caps; the warming of oceans that is producing more hurricanes, tornadoes and typhoons; and the destruction of many species. The rise
of the oceans by 20 feet – sufficient to flood Beijing, Calcutta, Shanghai, the Netherlands, large portions of Florida and parts of San Francisco and New York – may displace as many as 1.3 billion people. (No word yet about Boston.)
“Of course this will take hundreds of years to happen, right? Wrong. Changes in the environment are now accelerated to unprecedented levels. Potential disaster for mankind is looming only ten to twenty years way. Gore ends with a note of optimism and examples of how we have solved other problems such as slavery, suffrage, polio and getting to the moon. But it will take more than optimism to evoke change. A good start would be to have those in power admit there is a problem. Gore could have been more damning in regards to the Bush administration’s abysmal environmental record but he avoids politicizing the issues. 4 cats”
Barbara says: “Al Gore does a wonderful job of explaining global warming and the inherent problems and causes. He explains things in an easy, relaxed manner with a little humor thrown in so that you feel heartened that we can correct the problem if we all work at it.
“The couple of potshots at both Bush administrations were undertsated to say the least. He wisely stayed on his subject and did not make it a political film. 4.5 Cats”