FILM REVIEW
Rated PG
98 Minutes
Documentary
Released August 4
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is Al Gore’s follow up film to his 2006 groundbreaking documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which won two Oscars, and a Critics Choice award. This film presents the progress over the past ten years in the fight to keep our planet healthy in spite of a booming population.
The documentary begins at a slow and deliberate pace, perhaps a Tennessee pace, as that state is now Gore’s home base. However he did not grow up in that state, even though his political career began as a Tennessee congressman. Gore spent most of his youth in Washington DC where his father, Albert Gore Sr., was a senator. He attended high school in DC, moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to go to Harvard and after graduation became a journalist in the US Army in Vietnam from 1965-1971. He then spent time at Vanderbilt Law School before being elected to the US House of Representatives and later the US Senate where he served until January 1993, prior to becoming Bill Clinton’s Vice President. In this film, after the first few minutes of low-key presentations and explorations, you will see the persistence and the boundless energy of the accomplished orator Al Gore.
Directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk were hired by Gore’s team to create this sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. They pitched the idea of doing a behind-the-scenes film where they would follow Gore around for almost two years as he pursued his goals to combat climate change. The directors believed that this film was absolutely necessary. They noted that “climate change is the most important, most challenging issue humans have ever faced.” They found that Gore was absolutely tireless, and they believe that his energy is driven by his focus on the goal of solving climate change.
Watching this film, you will see visual evidence of the dramatic changes happening to your planet that are largely caused by our use of fossil fuels and non-biodegradable substances and containers. You will see the understated and highly effective communication and persuasive skills that Al Gore uses to bring people, communities and nations on board.
Most of this film was made before the executive branch of our government was occupied by a president who denies the research of climate scientists and who pulled our nations out of the group of powerful countries that stand together on the Paris climate agreement. Those developments earlier this year have made the impact of this film even more vital to our planet’s health.
Interestingly enough, Ivanka Trump, before the beginning of her father’s presidency, reported that she wanted to make climate change one of her signature issues. She contacted Gore and set up a meeting with her and her father on December 5, 2016. Of this meeting, with someone who had called climate change an invention of the Chinese, Gore diplomatically stated, “I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I'm just going to leave it at that."
Al Gore believes that “building a global grassroots movement is really the only way to solve this, because so many political systems have been captured by legacy industries. And that influence over policymaking has to be counterbalanced by a grassroots awareness.” This movie will show you that the solutions do exist, and they are affordable.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which is the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com. For previously published reviews see https://kwboole.wordpress.com
