Promised Land

R

Released Jan 4, 2013

1 hr. 46 min.

Drama

List

53%

152 Reviews

Tomatometer

46%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Corporate sales partners Steve Butler (Matt Damon) and Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand) arrive in a small town to secure drilling rights for a natural-gas company. They believe that the economic decline has done their work for them and that the townspeople will happily accept whatever offer they make. However, they don't consider the objections of a respected schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) and the leader (John Krasinski) of a grassroots campaign against the company's objective.

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Critics Consensus

The earnest and well-intentioned Promised Land sports a likable cast, but it also suffers from oversimplified characterizations and a frustrating final act.

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ashley E

I'm going to be blunt. I was diagnosed with ASD as soon as I showed symptoms as a toddler. Turned up positive. They decided that prayers and jesus and spankings were more virtuous than therapy. I didn't find out until I dragged the truth from my mother's throat as a 25 year old at the end of her rope. My blood relatives - parents and at least maternal grandparents knew my brain perceived the world differently. And still they beat and screamed and overcorrected any misstep in my childhood. Eventually, I got the tools to fight back. My maternal grandparents invited me along to watch this as a fun Papa adventure, like so many childhood day trips before! I listened to the film and engaged with its premise without pretense! ... My Maternal Grandfather used the 30 minute car ride home to LECTURE me - who was alone with my two abusers, in a locked vehicle going 60mph; trapped and forced to listen - about how I failed to connect to people and life lessons around me. I DID connect to people and stories - mostly young adult fiction and cartoons and fandom folks, but that didn't count in his eyes. I shut down until we pulled in at their home. I at least had the forethought to take my wallet and keys with me on the outing. As soon as the door to my temporary prison unlocked, I made a mad dash for my own car, locked myself in, and called my friends sobbing that I had just been subjected to verbal abouse. My narcissistic martyr of a grandmother insistently pounded on the windows, urging me not to make a fuss and disturb. The peace. I called and informed my parents. My grandmother tried to convince my mother to make me apologize to my grandfather. I refused. That was the start of some bad escalations in the family, but I survived. If anyone else has used this movie to preach and to chastize someone who has no power to escape or protect themselves from you? I hope whatever God you believe in sends you straight to Hell.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/06/23

Full Review

Gareth v

A movie that at it's roots is a political/environmental tale of big business trying to impose their will on a small town through money and propoganda. A solid enough effort from van Sant but not his best work either.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/22/23

Full Review

John R

While the environmental discussion in this movie is fairly simplistic for most of the runtime (essentially both sides lie to rural people "for their own good"), what this movie does really well is point to what is good about local communities like this: Namely that there is a real sense of belonging that exists in towns like the one pictured here. The farms have been in the family for generations, the land is a part of the people and the people are a part of the land. There's tradition and history there. To be sure, a lot of towns like this one are dying. The agricultural way of life is becoming more and more difficult to sustain if you aren't doing it at a very high volume, but what Matt Damon realizes over the course of the movie is that he's working out his own disappointment about the failure of his hometown, pushing his animus at people in similar situations, wondering why, as he says, they "won't just leave." When he's forced to come to terms with the damage he's doing, with the lies and half-truths told to people he's actually learned to care about, it gets to him. This movie takes its time. It's central conflict leaves a lot to be desired, but the value of local cultures and communities, and for me, the ending, make it all work.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

steve d

Lazy, boring and with nothing to say.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I feel like to really appreciate this movie one has to like other movies that Gus Van Sant and Matt Damon teamed up for. I think this movie is really well done and didn't see the twist coming at all

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The performances are easily the best part of Promised Land. Everyone is excellent, and I'm not sure any filmmaker shows such compassion for their characters as Van Sant. It's also hard to argue against the themes of this film. Once again, middle America serves purely as pawns in the political and economical fight between all sides of the arrogant elites. Unfortunately, the incessant preachiness, cloying speechifying, and cliched heroism are a bit too overwhelming.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Gus Van Sant

Director

Matt Damon

Steve Butler

John Krasinski

Dustin Noble

Frances McDormand

Sue Thomason

Rosemarie DeWitt

Alice

Hal Holbrook

Frank Yates

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Video Interview with Cast of Promised Land: Rosemarie DeWitt

Video Interview with Cast of Promised Land: Matt Damon

Video Interview with Cast of Promised Land: John Krasinski

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Ultimately, it comes down to the difference between narrative and advocacy, and advocacy (in most cases) isn't terribly dramatic.

Jun 21, 2016

Full Review

Kent Jones

Film Comment Magazine

Damon and Krasinski's script isn't completely solid, but it follows a believably wayward path to a lovely, muted ending.

Nov 5, 2013

Full Review

Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Thee film-makers' sincerity so indisputable, that Promised Land never entirely spins off the rails. It's hard to swallow, but easy to digest.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 19, 2013

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

An important film and a fine addition to the Van Sant filmography.

Rated: 2.5/4.0

Sep 20, 2020

Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Promised Land delivers the promise of a future if we just open our hearts and minds.

Nov 27, 2019

Full Review

Amon Warmann

CineVue

Promised Land is a good film that was on the cusp of being great. Regrettably, the unwillingness to dig deeper into its important issues ends up lessening the film's impact.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 25, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Corporate sales partners Steve Butler (Matt Damon) and Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand) arrive in a small town to secure drilling rights for a natural-gas company. They believe that the economic decline has done their work for them and that the townspeople will happily accept whatever offer they make. However, they don't consider the objections of a respected schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) and the leader (John Krasinski) of a grassroots campaign against the company's objective.

Director: Gus Van Sant
Executive Producer: Gus Van Sant, Ron Schmidt, Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King
Screenwriter: Matt Damon, John Krasinski
Distributor: Focus Features
Production Co: Sunday Night, Media Farm, Pearl Street
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 4, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.6M
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby SRD, Dolby Digital

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