Promised Land (2012)

A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources.

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers:

John Krasinski (screenplay), Matt Damon (screenplay),

Stars:

Matt Damon, Hal Holbrook, Frances McDormand

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Damon	...	Steve Butler
Benjamin Sheeler	...	Attendant
Terry Kinney	...	David Churchill
Carla Bianco	...	Waitress
Joe Coyle	...	Michael Downey
Hal Holbrook	...	Frank Yates
Dorothy Silver	...	Arlene
Frances McDormand	...	Sue Thomason
Titus Welliver	...	Rob
Lexi Cowan	...	Drew's Girl
Tim Guinee	...	Drew Scott
Sara Lindsey	...	Claire Allen
Frank Conforti	...	Coach
Garrett Ashbaugh	...	Basketball Player
Jericho Morgan	...	Jericho

Storyline

Corporate salesman Steve Butler (Damon) arrives in a rural town with his sales partner, Sue Thomason (McDormand). 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 (Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (Krasinski) who counters Steve both personally and professionally.

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Taglines:

What's your price?

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA United Arab Emirates

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 January 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Terra Prometida

Filming Locations:

Apollo, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$173,915 (USA) (28 December 2012)

Gross:

$7,556,708 (USA) (18 January 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Participant Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cinematographer Linus Sandgren shot the film with Hawk V-Lite 1.3x squeeze anamorphic lenses on 4-perf Super 35 for a final aspect ratio of 1.85:1. According to him this is the first time this combination has been used on a feature film (he and others had used it before on commercials), and the negative area used was 70% larger than that of regular 1.85:1 and 30% larger than 3-perf Super 35.

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Goofs

The brochure and poster talk about how fracking by the company, "Global..." will 'effect' (noun) the community; the correct spelling/usage is 'affect' (verb).

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Crazy Credits

Through most of the end credits, the camera zooms out to a wide shot of the town where the film takes place.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.54 (2012)
Matt Damon introduces a clip from his film

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Soundtracks

"Ash and Clay"
Written by Kenneth Pattengale and Joseph Edward Ryan
Performed by The Milk Carton Kids
Courtesy of Anti-

User Reviews

Surprisingly Good Movie

I really enjoyed this film. Acting is superb (obviously, look at the cast), beautifully shot, engaging confident storytelling. Very will scripted by Krasinski and Damon.

People seem a bit split on this movie, I think that partly has to do with a 'hot button' subject, but I don't think the film overly politicized the issue, in fact it did a good job of not making it to preachy, and showed that it is a very complicated issue.

Also the movie isn't an action film, it's a drama, that is nonetheless thoroughly engaging. Highly recommend. would give it 10/10 but third act issues lowered the score for me just a bit. Still a great watch!