AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Paramount Classics
Grade: A-
Directed by: Davis Guggenheim
Cast: Al Gore
Screened at: Paramouont, NYC, 5/15,06
Opens: May 5/24/06 There's something strange about politics. For decades,
Americans have complained that the two parties are too much
alike, like tweedledum and tweedledee. In recent years,
however, people complained that the parties are too far apart;
that our current chief executive is on the far right fringes while
the Democrats are, well what are they anyway? There's at least
one issue that greatly divides the Democratic candidate, Al
Gore, from his opponent George Bush, and that's the
environment. While Bush is as far from a tree-hugger as you
can get, even rejecting the Kyoto protocol on the emission of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to prevent
anthropogenic damage to climate, the environment is Gore's pet
project. In Davis Guggenheim's documentary, "An Inconvenient
Truth," the man who lost the year 2000 election (well, actually
he won, but that's another story) comes across as not the stiff
we saw on TV, but as a warm, friendly, even humorous (OK let's
not go that far) person who just may run again in ‘08. Davis Guggenheim, who directs this dynamite pic, portrays Gore
as a man who, like Adlai Stevenson, may have come across as
too intelligent for American voters. His intelligence is not
professorial, however, and that's all to the good. He uses his
brain to encourage political and moral activism, and if his movie
sounds like an opening bid for the 2008 presidential election,
that's all to the good. The guy is an inspiration, nor does it hurt
to have behind him one of the most exciting slide shows ever
shown on the silver screen to back up every point. While Gore does not mention our current president by name, he
takes a subtle dig here and there as when he describes an
event that took place in the classroom when he was in the sixth
grade. A youngster says to his teacher, who has a map of the
world at his back: "Is it true that South America and Africa were
once together?" Teacher replies, "Of course not. What a
ridiculous idea." Gore's filmed response: "That kid is now a
drug addict. The teacher is currently a science adviser to the
present administration." Al: where was this sense of humor
during your campaign six years ago? Director Guggenheim does not challenge any of Gore's
statements, which is fine. A documentary does not have to
come out like a balance sheet, giving the opposition time to
respond. But the evidence Gore unfolds is convincing as all
get-out, while the response to environmentalists made by
George H.W. Bush, brushing aside their concern, is sadly
sophomoric: "We'll be up to our necks in owls and nobody will
have a job." Alas: that's the kind of trash talk that a great many
Americans respond to. Essentially, the world is throwing too much greenhouse gas, or
carbon dioxide emissions, into the atmosphere, and America is
the guiltiest party, logging thirty percent of the total (with five
percent of the world's population). As a funny Homer
Simpson-like cartoon makes absolutely clear, when the sun's
rays are trapped by the gasses, the earth's atmosphere heats
up. Ice caps melt. The snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro, already in full
retreat during the past half century, will be no more in ten years.
Lakes become smaller, the ocean rises, heat waves galore
follow. Why is this relevant to us? Think of Hurricane Katrina
as the mother of all storms, with other preceding her. Consider
temperatures exceeding 120 degree in increasing areas of the
globe. Think of the smog that engulfs areas like L.A., Mexico
City, Shanghai. Gore makes clear that unless a problem is on the tip of
everyone's tongue, the politicians (excluding him) will take little
action. What the Bush administration did was to call on the auto
companies to turn out more efficient engines, but the legislation
hardly makes a difference. Even cars produced in China far
exceed the engine efficiency demanded of American cars, as do
autos knocked out by Honda and Toyota. The United States
auto companies are prohibited from selling their product in
China and presumably in parts of Europe as well. But couldn't all this environmental action hurt the economy?
The Gore multimedia show says no. On one slide of a scale are
bars of gold. "Mmmmm Mmmmmm," says Gore with a lilt in
his resonant voice. On the other side is the globe. No spoken
retort needed. Another bar graph shows that the population of the world has
increased since 1945 from just over two billion to the present six
and one-half billion, putting pressure on our food and water
supplies. A projection of nine billion is an all-too-short number
of years away. How did the presidential candidate become so involved with
nature? In a home-style movie, he shows himself as a kid on a
farm, his older sister Nancy acting as his friends and mentor.
When Nancy, a regular smoker, died of lung cancer, Gore was
devastated. His father immediately gave up the production of
tobacco. The death of his sister and a near-fatal accident
involving his ten-year-old son Chris caused Gore to ask himself
the question, "How should I spend my time on this earth?"
Protecting it is his unspoken answer. One criticism. Gore did not specify what percent of CO2 fumes
come from autos and what percent from factories. If autos
are the leading cause of this dangerous pollution, there are
remedies suggested in the epilogue. Walk or ride a bike.
If you must get a car, make it a hybrid. Write to your
congressmen to raise emission standards. If they don't
listen, run for Congress. I have a more radical solution,
if I may. Close down the suburbs and move everyone
to cities where autos are not necessary. Plow a fortune
into public transportation. (Kidding. I'm no reverse
Pol Pot.) "An Inconvenient Truth" should be shown in every classroom in
the U.S., its PG rating making it accessible even to those in the
primary grades. It should be seen by everyone, even by those
who are not "political," as our environment, according to the
former vice president, is a moral issue even more than it is a
political one. Not Rated. 96 minutes © 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
