Promised Land (2012)

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers (WGA):

John Krasinski (screenplay) &
Matt Damon (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 January 2013 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

What's your price?

Plot:

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.

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

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
Max Schuler	...	Carson Allen
August G. Siciliano	...	5th Grader
Ken Strunk	...	Gerry Richards
Karen Baum	...	Lynn
Gerri Bumbaugh	...	Jesse the Bartender
Rosemarie DeWitt	...	Alice
Johnny Cicco	...	Donny
Erin Baldwin	...	Buddy's Waitress
Kristin Slaysman	...	Gwen
John Krasinski	...	Dustin Noble
Andrew Kuebel	...	6-Year-Old Boy
Matthew Ferrante	...	Drummer
Justin Cook	...	Guitar #1
Steven Craven	...	Bass
Bruce Craven	...	Guitar #2
Gene Williams	...	Keyboard
Dan Anders	...	Large Man
Lucas Black	...	Paul Geary
Sandy Medred	...	Paul's Girlfriend
Scoot McNairy	...	Jeff Dennon
Carrington E. Vaughn	...	Colin
Cain Alexander	...	Danny Thomason
Joy de la Paz	...	Motel Receptionist
Lennon Wynn	...	Lemonade Girl at Gym
Payton Godfrey	...	Lemonade Girl at Fair
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nicole Beattie	...	Upscale Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Todd Bobenrieth	...	McKinley Resident (uncredited)
Troy Bogdan	...	Farmer (uncredited)
Kim Bordwine	...	Girl On Porch / Bar Patron (uncredited)
Robert Braund	...	Town Hall (uncredited)
Cara Clark	...	Fifth Grader (uncredited)
Daniel Clayton	...	Scorekeeper (uncredited)
Tyler Cook	...	Walking Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Susan Feldbusch	...	Townsperson (uncredited)
Eric Frank	...	Pool Player / Bar Patron (uncredited)
Ryan Goimarac	...	Fair Worker (uncredited)
David Gragg	...	Maitre d (uncredited)
Vito Grassi	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Richard Guesman	...	Town Supervisor (uncredited)
Rosemary Howard	...	McKinley High Spanish Teacher (uncredited)
John W. Iwanonkiw	...	Officer Breedlove (uncredited)
Kevin Jacobs	...	Kevin (uncredited)
Joanne Jeffers	...	Upscale Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Tiffany Kemp	...	Town Hall Meeting (uncredited)
Sharyn Kmieciak	...	Town Hall Meetings (uncredited)
Andrew Knode	...	Town Hall Meeting Attendee (uncredited)
Scott Lockhart	...	McKinley High School Assistant Basketball Coach (uncredited)
Laura Lukasik	...	Town Hall Patron (uncredited)
Frank McAleavey	...	Town Hall Meeting (uncredited)
Tiffany Sander McKenzie	...	Festival Worker (uncredited)
F. Robert McMurray	...	Farmer at Town Hall Meeting (uncredited)
Phil Nardozzi	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Jennifer Obed	...	Alice's Friend (uncredited)
Brent Reichert	...	Upscale Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
John D. Reilly	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Heidi Noel Schermaier	...	Town Hall Meeting (uncredited)
John Seibel	...	Butcher (uncredited)
Julie Simon	...	Town Hall Meeting (uncredited)
Douglas Slygh	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Shane Thompson	...	Town Hall Meeting (uncredited)
John E. Tremba	...	Carny12 (uncredited)
Blake Vogel	...	Blake Dennon (uncredited)
Debbie Vogel	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
James Werley	...	Council Member (uncredited)
Lawrence Whitener	...	Town Hall Meeting (uncredited)
Lisa Y. Wong	...	Upscale Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

Directed by
Gus Van Sant

Writing credits (WGA)
John Krasinski		(screenplay) &
Matt Damon		(screenplay)
Dave Eggers		(story)

Produced by
Isabel Freer	....	associate producer
Jonathan King	....	executive producer
Chris Moore	....	producer
Mike Sablone	....	co-producer
Ron Schmidt	....	executive producer
Jeff Skoll	....	executive producer
Drew Vinton	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Danny Elfman

Cinematography by
Linus Sandgren

Film Editing by
Billy Rich

Production Design by
Daniel B. Clancy

Art Direction by
Gregory A. Weimerskirch

Set Decoration by
Rebecca Brown

Costume Design by
Juliet Polcsa

Makeup Department
Myriam Arougheti	....	makeup artist
Christine Beveridge	....	makeup artist: Mr. Damon
Kay Georgiou	....	hair department head
Nancy Keslar	....	key hair stylist
Rachel Kick	....	key makeup artist
Kelley Mitchell	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Richard E. Chapla Jr.	....	unit production manager
Tami Goldman	....	post-production supervisor
Josh Rappaport	....	post-production manager: Focus Features
Ben Urquhart	....	post production executive

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Neil Lewis	....	second assistant director
Walter E. Myal	....	second second assistant director
David J. Webb	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jenn Albaugh	....	art department coordinator
Demian Aspinwall	....	set dresser
Timothy Barnhill	....	set dresser
Lisa Bradley	....	construction secretary
Matthew Carraher	....	additional props
Julie Chill	....	painter
Jolene Dames	....	props
Josh Drylie	....	set dresser
Chip Eccles	....	carpenter
Joshua Hogan	....	painter
Smith Harper Hutchings	....	on-set scenic
Gregory Jones	....	key greensman
John A. Kelly	....	charge painter
Mike Matesic	....	construction foreman
Tim McGrane	....	painter
Christina Myal	....	graphic designer
Samuel Noel	....	set dresser
Barbie Pastorik	....	buyer
Justin Pelissero	....	leadman
Buster Pile	....	construction coordinator
Donald Lee Rager	....	props
Scott A. Reeder	....	property master
Michael G. Richer	....	general foreman
Kelley Snyder	....	assistant property master

Sound Department
Felix Andrew	....	sound mixer
Wade Barnett	....	adr recordist
Ryan Collins	....	supervising sound effects editor
Colette Dahanne	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chad Djubek	....	boom operator
Brian Dunlop	....	foley editor
Jesse Ehredt	....	sound recordist
Ellen Heuer	....	foley artist
Robert Jackson	....	supervising sound editor
Tim Limer	....	sound recordist
Brandon McDonnell	....	additional sound utility
A. Josh Reinhardt	....	sound mixer
Leslie Shatz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chris Strollo	....	sound recordist
Callie Thurman	....	assistant sound editor
Irene Vinader	....	foley editor

Special Effects by
Jake Hays	....	special effects technician (as Jacob Hays)
Jim Heastings	....	special effects assistant
Raymond M. Tasillo	....	special effects coordinator
Jason Trosky	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
Scott M. Davids	....	visual effects supervisor: Level 256 VFX
Dick Edwards	....	visual effects supervisor: Invisible Effects
Adam Lima	....	digital compositor
Brad Sutton	....	digital restoration
Wilson Tang	....	digital restoration

Camera and Electrical Department
Sebastián Almeida	....	remote head tech
John Bair	....	rigging electric
Brian 'Buzz' Buzzelli	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Steve Cohagan	....	rigging gaffer
Alexander 'Lex' Crow	....	set lighting
Pat Dames	....	grip
Bob Dodd	....	electrician
John Donaldson	....	electrician
David A. Dwyer	....	best boy rigging grip
Michael Fitzgerald	....	photographer: EPK
Bart Flaherty	....	key grip
Sean Flaherty	....	grip
Norris Fox	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
David 'Yoko' Jose	....	additional grip
Patrick Murray	....	gaffer
Sean Murray	....	electrician
Justin Novak	....	electrician
David Parson	....	camera loader
John Parson	....	camera production assistant
Deb Petersen	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Deb Peterson	....	second assistant camera
Brian Powers	....	key rigging grip
Brennan Reilly	....	rigging grip
Brad Robinson	....	additional grip
Amishjim Schulze	....	electric
Rich Schutte	....	additional grip
Terry Shirk	....	best boy electric
Davon Slininger	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Doug Stanczak	....	rf video technician
Blake Steigerwald	....	additional camera loader
Jorge Sánchez	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
John E. Tremba	....	grip
Michael Zinobile	....	best boy grip
Nick Zinobile	....	company grip

Casting Department
Donna M. Belajac	....	casting: Pittsburgh
Brittany Forringer	....	additional extras casting assistant
Barbara Harris	....	adr voice casting
Chelsea Lynn Peterson	....	extras casting assistant
Laura Zech	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darcie Buterbaugh	....	costume supervisor
Paul John Carli	....	key costumer
Alison Evans	....	set costumer
Tori Musial	....	costume assistant
Sylvianne Shurman	....	additional set costumer

Editorial Department
J.D. Funari	....	marketing editor
Bernie E. Gomez	....	apprentice editor (as Bernie Gomez)
David Marks	....	first assistant editor
Julian McDougald	....	digital intermediate producer
Mariah K. Shields	....	post-production assistant
Everette Webber	....	digital intermediate editor
Darin Wooldridge	....	additional digital intermediate colorist
Darin Wooldridge	....	home video mastering colorist

Music Department
Steve Bartek	....	orchestrator
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestral contractor
Lisa Jaime	....	music editor
Ben Kopec	....	composer: additional music
Michael Perfitt	....	music engineer
Brian Reitzell	....	music supervisor
Dennis S. Sands	....	music scoring mixer
Edgardo Simone	....	orchestrator
Nick Wollage	....	score engineer

Transportation Department
Frank Conforti	....	transportation captain
Ron Goddard	....	production driver
Donald A. Kraus	....	transportation coordinator
Angelo Sotereanos	....	production driver

Other crew
John Adkins	....	location manager
Erik Andreasen	....	production executive
Alex Benevent	....	assistant production office coordinator
Stephanie Bertoni	....	craft service
Carson Camp	....	location assistant
Ray Cervenak	....	security captain
Kate Chase	....	animal wrangler
Kelly Chizmar	....	stand-in
Ciara D'Altorio	....	set production assistant
Joshua P. Dease	....	first assistant accountant
Lucas Evans	....	assistant to mr. schmidt
James Ferrera	....	unit publicist
Joshewa Fulton	....	assistant to gus van sant
Vanessa Gaitan	....	production assistant
David Hall	....	office production assistant
Eric Hollenbeck	....	set production assistant
Chris M. Jackson	....	computer playback graphics
Kent Jackson	....	assistant location manager
Gleb Kaminer	....	dubbing voice
Jon Kerns	....	set production assistant
Andrea Kubala	....	photo double/stand in
Cheryl Kurk	....	production accountant
Mia La Monica	....	production assistant
Jeremy Landman	....	title designer: main title
Casey LaRocco	....	set medic
Michelle Liedke	....	stand-in for lemonade girl
Stephanie Lytle	....	assistant to John Krasinski
Carson Mains	....	location assistant
Hiromi Marder	....	payroll accountant
Nathan Matt	....	second assistant accountant
Jonathan Medeiros	....	set production assistant
Brenden Meers	....	production assistant
Kristen Miller	....	production assistant
Ginny Minuto	....	key craft service
Drew Nicholas	....	location assistant
Emily Pile	....	production secretary
Blake Reading	....	body double
Blake Reading	....	body double
Elizabeth H. Ross	....	accounting clerk
Brooke Satrazemis	....	script supervisor
Dee Schuka	....	post production accountant
Dan Short	....	production assistant
Coalin Smith	....	production assistant
Janice F. Sperling	....	production coordinator
Brittany Sugarman	....	production assistant
Randall Marshall Troy	....	set production assistant
Cherokee Walker	....	aerial coordinator / helicopter pilot
Paul Weisel	....	location coordinator
Harley Wilson	....	production assistant
Maranda Wodzinski	....	craftee

Production Companies

• Focus Features
• Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ
• Participant Media
• Pearl Street Films

Distributors

• Prorom Media-Trade (2013) (Romania) (all media)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2013) (Hungary) (all media)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2013) (Bulgaria) (all media)
• Alliance Films (2013) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Benelux Film Distributors (2013) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Focus Features (2013) (USA) (theatrical)
• Mars Distribution (2013) (France) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2013) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2013) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2013) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Zon Audiovisuais (2013) (Portugal) (all media)

Other Companies

• Big Picture Media  soundtrack publicist
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Cleared Content  graphics
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Realms of Catering  catering
• Relativity Music Group  soundtrack
• Scarlet Letters  end crawl
• Scenechronize  production management software
• Sessions Payroll Management  extras payroll services
• Vantage Film  camera equipment provided by
• Wildfire Studios  post-production facilities
• Wildfire Studios  post-production sound services

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

USA:106 min

Country:

USA | United Arab Emirates

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Datasat

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #47899) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG13 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:15A | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) (Blu-ray)

Filming Locations:

Baruch College, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

Rob, a store clerk who appears throughout the movie, is played by Titus Welliver, immediately recognizable to "Lost" (2004) fans as the "Man in Black." Subtle homage is played to this in Sue's final visit to the store. The vantage point is from within the store. The glass door, through which the viewer sees Sue approaching, is slightly off center and the camera pulled back just enough to show some local ads and announcements. Most of them are illegible, but one stands out with big bold letters across the top that read "L O S T" (followed by some smaller print and pictures of a cat).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the first meeting in the school gym, the coach says that the basketball team is getting ready for regionals. Yet it is clearly summertime and not February, when this would be happening. Three week later, the basketball team is playing a game and all the plants are green and the trees have leaves.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.54" (2012)

Soundtrack:

You're Always Welcome Here

Possibly the most underrated picture of the year.

It's becoming more and more rare for films to be allowed to exist in an area between the big expensive franchise pictures, the Oscar-adored prestige pieces, the disposable genre flicks and the ultra low-budget independents. There used to be a time when you could have a film that existed somewhere else, a simple story that focused first and foremost on character as opposed to high concepts or genre thrills. These pictures didn't make the most money and they didn't earn a lot of awards attention, but for those who sought them out they were often treated to a unique experience that was able to pull on emotional strings without ever hoping to achieve something on a much grander scale. Promised Land is one of those pictures, and it's a type of film that I deeply wish we saw more of in the current cinematic climate.

Written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski, this is a small-town American tale centered on an earnest protagonist who is forced to take a hard look in the mirror when his ideals are shattered and the tables are turned against him. The script doesn't paint things as black-and-white as they seem at first, with shifting motivations and some unexpected turns later in the game that really tilt things on their axis. Promised Land is the kind of simple picture that filmmakers such as Frank Capra and Billy Wilder excelled at in their better days and while this one doesn't quite exist on the higher levels of those great artists, it's certainly hitting in the same ballpark. Unfortunately, the film industry doesn't have much room for these kind of mid-level pictures anymore and it's not a surprise that this one was met with no major acclaim or box- office receipts. Missing it would be a mistake though, as it's a superbly written and acted morality tale that presents a welcome contrast to the kind of larger pictures that dominate most of the year these days.

Originally slated to be Damon's directorial debut, he instead elected to keep himself restricted to the screenplay and the starring role, bringing in former collaborator Gus Van Sant to helm the picture. Damon portrays Steve Butler, a salesman for a natural gas company who arrives in a small Anytown, U.S.A. in order to buy up their land so they can drill into their natural resources. Arriving with his partner Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand), what starts off as an easy job turns complicated when schoolteacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) advises the townsfolk to educate themselves on the company's techniques and an environmentalist named Dustin Noble (John Krasinski) comes in to fight against Butler and his group.

Promised Land is a topical story that utilizes the economic crisis as a key theme in its depiction of the farm workers in this kind of small town that exists all over the country, with people who were shattered by the recession and are fighting to keep themselves alive. Butler's company could easily be seen as a greedy corporation looking to profit on the misfortune of others, but Butler himself has the kind of personal experience that keeps him believing that he is doing the right thing, no matter how much things may point to the contrary. When faced with the potentially nefarious operations of his company, Butler is quick to insist that he is not a bad guy, and Damon plays him with an earnestness that makes you believe that.

As the opposition from Noble and the pressure from his superiors mounts and begins to push Steve into a corner, Damon's performance takes on some heavier shades that really speak to his skills as an actor. Despite the bad things his company is capable of, I found it impossible not to root for this guy, and I deeply felt for him when he began to hit his lowest points. Damon's long been an underrated actor who doesn't get the credit he deserves simply because he's so effortlessly natural in most of his portrayals, and this is a character that makes great use of that authenticity he brings to every role. There's one scene in particular when he's at his low point and is confronted by some of the townsfolk where he launches into this angry tirade about what he labels "f-ck you money" that I found especially impressive.

Promised Land came and went without a strong reception and that's not a big surprise in the current state of the industry, but it's a shame for multiple reasons. Not only is it just a great film on any level, it also represents a dying market in American cinema that I had always found myself particularly drawn towards. The intelligent Capra-esque script, the ace ensemble and the assured, well-paced direction from Gus Van Sant all gel smoothly in forming a wholly impressive picture that I rank among the best of the year. There's also a warm, very dry sense of humor to it that is woven in comfortably with the richer themes and darker dramatic turns that it takes over its duration. Unlike many of the films this year, there's something that resonated firmly with me here and it's got a topicality that would speak to a lot of the American audience -- if they saw it, that is.