An Inconvenient Truth – review

If you only see one film in your lifetime, this is the one to see.

It is a scientific fact that global warming is a real and growing problem that effects each and everyone of us.  Thanks to the oil lobby and others, there is much "junk science" out  there intended to confuse people about global warming.  Yet it will not go away unless we do something about it.  Ignorance is not bliss.  The very good news is that there are simple things each of us can do to change this problem — one that some believe will be irreversible within less than 10 years if we don’t start doing something now.  If we do not do something, individually and collectively, then the next era will bring unprecedented catastrophe. 

As the film An Inconvenient Truth says, "…this is not a political issue….so much as it’s a moral issue".

A number of years ago, I was in Chicago to address a group of businessmen about the effects of global warming. Since then the problem has gotten worse.  One man in the group commented that he didn’t see a problem with the environment, that he visited a local park and it seemed fine, and that he didn’t consume plant products anyway so it didn’t matter to him. In fact, he said he never eats vegetables (clearly).  I noticed he was wearing an all-cotton shirt. I can spot a 100% cotton shirt from quite a distance! When I asked him about it, he said that cotton was an animal product.

Everyone: if you find the animal that produces this, please let me know because I would like to get one for a pet.  Perhaps I could take one of those pets to the rainforest, which is being depleted globally at the rate of one football field of space per minute.  This is not a touchdown.

An Inconvenient Truth is a brilliantly presented case for the problem posed by global warming, but also a solution that empowers each and every one of us to make a difference.  The film, which features former Vice President Al Gore, is essentially the evolution of a slide show presentation Gore has been showing for years. 

Here’s what people are saying about the film:

"In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film.  If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to." – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
full review

"It’s a mild-boggling disaster epic that draws its special power from the fact that we are both the villains and victims of the story."
- William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
full review

"You don’t need to like Gore, or trust him, or even believe him to get a swift kick in the pants, one that’ll scare the hell out of you…" – MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
full review

"If you see only one movie this year, make it An Inconvenient Truth.  It may not be the year’s best movie, or its most entertaining, but it’s certainly the most terrifyingly crucial." – Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
full review

"A flat earth was inconvenient to Papal authority in Galileo’s time.  Now what heresy is gore committing with a scientifically based argument against contributing further to relentlessly destructive natural forces?" – Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
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"It is utterly convincing…emotionally powerful…." – Dave Calhoun, Time Out
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