Promised Land

This even-handed fictional tale about an energy corporation buying up farmland is as gently paced as the similarly pitched David-and-Goliath fable Local Hero and has echoes of true-life legal dramas Erin Brockovich and A Civil Action. Matt Damon and Frances McDormand are the slick company reps who arrive in a rural Pennsylvania community to harvest signatures allowing deep drilling for natural gas using the controversial fracking process. Difficult questions about its ecological impact come from local retired engineer Hal Holbrook, before charismatic eco-warrior John Krasinski whips up the townsfolk into a threatened revolt. But the real focus of the story - co-written by Damon and Krasinski from an original work by author Dave Eggers - hinges on Damon's crisis of corporate confidence, which is subtly played. The material is deftly handled by director Gus Van Sant, who unashamedly hymns the rolling American landscape, but the narrative would have benefited from having a few more surprises up its plaid sleeve.