An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Davis Guggenheim

Release Date:

31 August 2006 (Thailand)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

A Global Warning

Plot:

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

Plot Keywords:

Climate | Global Warming | Audience | Truth | Politics

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Al Gore	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy West	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

Eine unbequeme Wahrheit (Austria) (Germany) [de]
En obekväm sanning (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Une vérité qui dérange (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
An Inconvenient Truth (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
En ubekvem sandhed (Denmark) [da]
Epämiellyttävä totuus (Finland) [fi]
La verdad incómoda (Colombia) [es]
La verdad incómoda - Una advertencia global (Argentina) [es]
Mia avoli alitheia (Greece) (TV title) [el]
Mia enohlitiki alitheia (Greece) [el]
Neprijatna istina (Serbia) [sr]
Uma Verdade Inconveniente (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]
Una scomoda verità (Italy) [it]
Una verdad incómoda (Spain) [es]
Uygunsuz gerçek (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:G | UK:U | Ireland:G | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-3 | Netherlands:MG6 | Norway:A | Hong Kong:I | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/6 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG (certificate #42438) | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Malaysia:U | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Lawrence Bender Productions

Trivia:

This is the first carbon-neutral documentary. NativeEnergy, which works with individuals and organizations to help them compensate for their contributions to global warming, calculated the "carbon footprint" from producing the film, including all travel, office, and accommodations related emissions. The company then offset emissions through renewable energy credits or "green tags from new renewable energy projects. Paramount Classics and Participant will split the cost of these tags; the funds will go towards helping build new Native American, Alaskan Native Village, and farmer-owned renewable energy projects, creating sustainable economies for communities in need and diversifying our energy supply. As Participant founder Jeff Skoll explains: "It would be ironic, not to mention wrong, if we added to the global warming that Al Gore warns about in his film. Plus, these renewable energy projects offer options that will decrease our demand for fossil fuels and otherwise would likely not happen without these kinds of investments." Participant, NativeEnergy and Warner Bros. partnered in a similar way on Stephen Gaghan's film, Syriana (2005), where 100% of the carbon dioxide emissions generated by the production were translated into investments into renewable energy. This follows on from the first "carbon neutral" film The Day After Tomorrow (2004), which director Roland Emmerich paid for out of his own pocket.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Gore shows the slide of the ice core graph at the beginning of the movie (about 20 minutes in), the numbers on the y-axis are wrong -- the average is at 0.5, and the negative numbers are flipped. This graph is correct in the book; the slide is wrong and therefore misleading.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Al Gore: You look at that river gently flowing by. You notice the leaves rustling with the wind. You hear the birds; you hear the tree frogs. In the distance you hear a cow. You feel the grass. The mud gives a little bit on the river bank. It's quiet; it's peaceful. And all of a sudden, it's a gear shift inside you. And it's like taking a deep breath and going, "Oh yeah, I forgot about this."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Meet the Spartans (2008)

Soundtrack:

Can't Sleep

Film overdoses on too much Al

Regardless of how you feel about Al Gore as a politician, this documentary is worth seeing because of the gravity of the issues discussed. Gore proves to be a worthy spokesman and his arguments are clear and concise at the beginning of the film. In other words, you do not need to be a scientist to understand what he is saying about the environment and the consequences of global warming. He is an effective communicator and good at explaining the problem in layperson's terms.

The problem with the film is, ironically, too much of Al Gore himself. Less than halfway through I began to ask myself "Is this a documentary about global warming or about Al Gore?" There is a shift from the message to the messenger; global warming fades into the background while Al moves to the front and center. While a brief personal portrait (family background, political career) could have enhanced the story, in this documentary the focus on Gore dilutes the film's central theme.

Towards the end, Gore's examples become slightly disjointed as he tries to "throw too much into the bag" (ex: overpopulation). I blame this more on the editing of the film than on his live presentations (people have criticized the movie as being "about a slideshow", but seeing the film made me want to attend one of Mr. Gore's presentations in person!). Thankfully, "An Inconvenient Truth" ends on a positive note. That alone makes this documentary recommended viewing.