Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Review: An Inconvenient Truth

I don't claim to be the foremost expert on movies, or have the ability to convey their deeper meanings, the use of lighting or cinematography, or relate them to their predecessors. But after seeing the thought-provoking, fear-inducing documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, last Friday, I felt I could pull off a rare review.

For those unfamiliar with the film, it came to fruition as the urgent message of global warming bullies its way into the center of the political spectrum. Yes, its a leftist movie, but its message should garner the attention of conservatives and liberals alike. We are - as the movie drives home - in serious trouble. As a planet, as a human race, our life as we know it may take a significant turn for the worse in the next 10 years if the effects of global warming are not curtailed - and soon.

This movie is, more or less, a filmmakers portrayal of former Vice President Al Gore's lifelong PowerPoint presentation of global warming, and its drastic effects that have already taken its toll on the world and the American people. Some of the highlights? Ten of the last 14 years are the warmest on record, that a significant portion of Florida, India and Asia will be under water in the coming years as the polar ice caps continue to melt, and a host of other stat-supported facts that will give you chills.

Gore, who has been giving the slideshow presentation for years, says he's invested 30 years of work into this issue and given more than 1,000 presentations. He starts at square one, explaining the basics of the global warming process and how greenhouse gases are thickening the atmosphere, thus retaining more heat. The end result? Above-ground ice, which can be found at each pole and Greenland, is melting. It's displacing animals, and the water is rising around the world. Soon, there will be displaced citizens, a continued increase in violent, severe weather (there's a portion of the film devoted to Hurricane Katrina) and a litany of another minute facts that would've passed me by on any other day.

If you can get past Gore's dry sense-of-humor, which in actuality, cannot even be considered a sense-of-humor, then you will enjoy this documentary. It's clearly going to have an underlying political agenda, but it isn't as prominent as you would think. It's simply a collection of Gore's new life work, which he has devoted his existence to since falling to George W. Bush in the 2000 election.

He recollects on a few of his life happenstances that helped shape who he is today, and why this issue has taken extreme importance to him, which he insists is beyond the political arena. He claims he has no intentions of ever entering politics again - a continuous theme throughout in an effort to distance himself from any possible political gain.

Regardless, the movie will provide a scare, a jolt and leave you scrambling inside your own head in hopes of finding something you can do to help remedy the situation. Start by seeing this movie - even if you feel like you would rather not know what your daily habits are contributing to the place you inhabit.

Our world and our future depends on it.

View the trailer below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4ofSx6NsQs&search=an%20inconvenient%20truth

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