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No Impact Man

Play trailer Poster for No Impact Man Released Sep 11, 2009 1h 32m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 48 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
This documentary tells the story of author Colin Beavan, who went completely "green," giving up virtually all of the comforts of modern living -- electricity, gas-powered transportation, shipped food and public waste disposal -- in a drastic effort to curb his environmental impact. The cameras capture the toll this well-intentioned, year-long project takes on Beavan's wife and baby daughter, as well as the ways it brings this family closer together.

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No Impact Man

No Impact Man

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Critics Consensus

Half enviro-saving doc, half publicity stunt, No Impact Man is inspiring and fun to both casual activists and hardcore recyclers.

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Critics Reviews

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Nicolas Rapold Time Out Rated: 2/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Peter Bradshaw Guardian It advances important and laudable ideas, but in a cliched, gimmicky way. Rated: 2/5 Sep 2, 2010 Full Review Tom Seymour Little White Lies It doesn't sound like fun, and it isn't fun to watch. Rated: 1/5 Sep 2, 2010 Full Review Siobhan Synnot Scotsman Whether gamely playing cards by candlelight or sneaking ice from her workplace fridge when Colin's homemade cooler fails, Michelle is the real star here, emotionally and dramatically. Rated: 3/5 Oct 25, 2010 Full Review Sophie Ivan Film4 As pure entertainment, No Impact Man seesaws between infuriating and captivating, but gains undeniable brownie points for its light-hearted examination of sustainable living. Rated: 3/5 Sep 9, 2010 Full Review David Parkinson Radio Times While the hero may be resistible, this still makes for compelling viewing. Rated: 3/5 Sep 2, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Ughh, talk about bourgeois guilt. This guy is a writer trying to find an "issue" to give purpose to his writing, and as he proclaims, try to save the planet. But the conspicuous lack of authenticity behind his endeavor makes this documentary really unpalatable. It's disheartening how he lectures and controls his wife through his eco-rants; at the end, this does not feel like a family project, but one rooted in purely narcissistic reasons. Yes, it's good to eat organic and in season, cut down our compulsive consumption, and reduce our carbon footprint, but we can get all the facts from Google without having to endure this guy self-promoting as the poster child of sustainable living. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Very much like a home-video and had a little too much of the personal stuff between this man and his wife... It wasnt very professional as it showed the extreme lack of communication/preparation between them before this whole documentary began. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member I learned a new phrase from watching this movie: bourgeois primitivism. Truly ironic they are fighing over whether to bring another kid onto this planet during this film. Perfect, although unintentional, encapsulation of the huge blindspot these types have to the actual nature of the problem. Best scene, and probably the only reason to suffer through this entire film, when the hippie community gardener puts Beavan in his place and a state of speechlessness by simply pointing out the obvious. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a really interesting documentary about one man (Colin) and his family's experiment living impact free for a year with his family. The film is fraught with conflict with his wife (Michelle) who is a self proclaimed "reality tv addict" and caffeine junkie. The film follows their family journey discovering how hard and how easy it can be to change to lessen our impact on the environment in our day to day lives. This film is idealistic and I agree with Colin in his endeavour, we need a little more idealism in this world and less realism. This film has inspired me to believe in individual change, but also some of the drastic changes the family make are more for the purposes of the experiment and demonstration, rather than realistic in the long term (e.g. no electricity). Overall a really interesting, informative film, that is enjoyable to watch. A great film for those interested in the environment and activism. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member (***): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] An interesting documentary. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Very interesting. He took his year of living without leaving ANY carbon footprint to the extreme, so he could learn how to live responsibly in the future. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
No Impact Man

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis This documentary tells the story of author Colin Beavan, who went completely "green," giving up virtually all of the comforts of modern living -- electricity, gas-powered transportation, shipped food and public waste disposal -- in a drastic effort to curb his environmental impact. The cameras capture the toll this well-intentioned, year-long project takes on Beavan's wife and baby daughter, as well as the ways it brings this family closer together.
Director
Laura Gabbert, Justin Schein
Producer
Laura Gabbert, Eden Wurmfeld
Distributor
Oscilloscope Pictures
Production Co
Eden Wurmfeld Films, Shadowbox Films Inc.
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 11, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 5, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$96.4K
Runtime
1h 32m
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