Land of Plenty

2004

1 hr. 50 min.

Drama

List

63%

27 Reviews

Tomatometer

62%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

World-traveling missionary Lana (Michelle Williams) returns to post-Sept. 11 America from the Middle East and begins work at a Los Angeles homeless shelter. Her Vietnam veteran uncle Paul (John Diehl) passes his days driving on a paranoid and self-styled reconnaissance mission looking for Islamic terrorists. Paul and Lana re-establish an uneasy relationship, but when they witness an act of violence, their divergent points of view force them to reconsider their friendship.

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Audience Member

Slow-moving Wim Wenders film despite good performances from both John Diehl and Michelle Williams.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Convincing performances from Diehl, Williams. Wenders attempt to allegorise post-9/11 USA is telling

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

From purely cinematic perspective, this movie is a delight, featuring captivating performances and beautiful cinematography. When it comes to the story though... I appreciated a foreigner's view of post-9/11 America, but the portrayal was way oversimplified and one-dimensional. It shows even in the character development. As much as I liked Michelle Williams and her performance, she was given little to work with, while John Diehl's kept chewing scenery.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Audience Member

Begins with a lot of excitement and anticipation then seems to wander off into an abyss of nothingness - disappointing !!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

walter m

Upon her arrival back in the United States, Lana(Michelle Williams) is met at the airport by Henry(Wendell Pierce), the pastor at the homeless mission she is volunteering to work at. They have their work cut out for them as the vast seas of homeless in Los Angeles almost make her nostalgic for the time she spent on the West Bank. Still, she has a personal mission in delivering an envelope to her uncle Paul(John Diehl) whose mission is to make the United States safe for right wing radio talk shows while stalking Hassan(Shaun Toub) on his collections of Borax. I appreciate the fact that "Land of Plenty" takes notice of how large a problem hunger is in the United States but not so much that I enjoyed being lectured about it in totally ponderous fashion instead of coming up with a solid story to tell. Nor could the movie make any valid suggestions or even any kind of connection between guns and butter in wartime, as most of the post-9/11 paranoia is now thankfully dated. Wendell Pierce and Michelle Williams can only do so much with so little, as the movie otherwise lets John Diehl, an otherwise fine character actor, free rein to go over the top in playing a stereotypical character, thereby sucking all of the oxygen out of the room.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I predicted the ending before it happened.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Wim Wenders

Director

Michelle Williams

Lana

John Diehl

Paul

Shaun Toub

Hassan

Wendell Pierce

Henry

Richard Edson

Jimmy

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Leslie Felperin

Variety

Wim Wenders' first fiction featurefeature since 2000's The Million Dollar Hotel, rocky but respectable Land of Plenty proves the helmer often does better with low budgets, fast schedules and young collaborators.

Aug 4, 2006

Full Review

Jeff Shannon

Seattle Times

It casts a spell of compassionate humanity with a gently healing effect.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 4, 2006

Full Review

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Hampered by an ending that overreaches needlessly, the film is nevertheless worthy and unmistakably the effort of an enduringly distinctive and important filmmaker.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 10, 2005

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Wenders' film is remarkable for another reason. Shot on digital video in a mere 16 days, Land of Plenty places social deprivation in America at its very center.

Feb 15, 2021

Full Review

Jason Gorber

Film Scouts

Major tragedy that September 11th has gone from horrifying to exploited... to, now, really freakin' boring German films about deserts and campervans.

Rated: D

Jun 21, 2007

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

About as unconvincing as any Hollywood film.

Rated: C-

Dec 19, 2006

Full Review

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Synopsis

World-traveling missionary Lana (Michelle Williams) returns to post-Sept. 11 America from the Middle East and begins work at a Los Angeles homeless shelter. Her Vietnam veteran uncle Paul (John Diehl) passes his days driving on a paranoid and self-styled reconnaissance mission looking for Islamic terrorists. Paul and Lana re-establish an uneasy relationship, but when they witness an act of violence, their divergent points of view force them to reconsider their friendship.

Director: Wim Wenders
Executive Producer: Peter Schwartzkopff, Jonathan Sehring, Caroline Kaplan, John Sloss
Screenwriter: Michael Meredith, Wim Wenders
Production Co: Emotion Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 12, 2017
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital