Al Gore Saves the Universe
By Josh Larsen

Al Gore certainly looks like a man who is running for President in An Inconvenient Truth, a shamelessly propagandistic documentary that has all the artistry and subtlety of a campaign ad.

Even those who agree with Gore's environmental philosophy, which the picture lays out in exhausting detail, would have to admit that An Inconvenient Truth fails in many of the same ways Gore failed as a Presidential candidate. The picture is tedious, impersonal, dare I say stiff. Staunch environmentalists--or even those of us who are looking for engaging, informative dialogue on the global-warming debate--should be dismayed that

Gore's message is being conveyed via so dull and didactic a presentation.

Gore can't entirely be blamed for failing to turn into a live wire--at 58, the man is what he is. So the fault mainly lies with the filmmakers. Director Davis Guggenheim, who has mostly worked on television series such as "24" and "ER," follows Gore as the former Vice President goes on a world tour with his multimedia presentation on global warming. The lecture, which Gore calls "the slide show," takes up the majority of the movie's running time, lightened only by occasional portraiture segments that fail to reveal much about the man at the film's center.

To be fair, Gore is more invigorated here than he ever seemed to be on the campaign trail. Yet Guggenheim presses too hard to present a "loose" Gore, making sure to include the self-deprecating one-liner he uses to open his presentation: "I used to be the next President of the United States." Watching Gore crack a joke is like watching your average football player swing a golf club. Sure, he can do it, but it's not an especially pretty sight.

If the movie were simply boring, An Inconvenient Truth might still be worth enduring if only to mine the extensive data and whatever environmental information might unfold. But environmentalism isn't Guggenheim's real concern. Presiding over the "rebirth" of Al Gore is. You get the feeling the director would be fine with global warming so long as Gore got to be the next President.

From its opening images, which view Gore only from behind, as if he were some powerful figure about to spin around and reveal his greatness, An Inconvenient Truth lionizes the man more than his cause. The movie means to paint him as a misunderstood prophet, trudging through airports and convention centers bringing the unpopular word of God to the sinful masses.

Aside from giving over most of its running time to what amounts to a stump speech, the film's efforts to humanize Gore are only remotely tied to his passion for the environment. We do learn that his interest in the issue goes back to his college days. But the picture's attempts to connect the near-death of Gore's young son with the father's love for the earth is as manipulative as the film's use of Katrina footage.

An Inconvenient Truth predictably thrilled audiences at this year's Sundance and Cannes film festivals. That has much to do with the politically receptive crowd, and also much to do with the current conception of the "documentary." Nonfiction movies have never been completely impartial--even the cuddliest nature film usually carries a conservation message--but in recent years the very concept of objectivity has become anathema to many documentary filmmakers.

In some cases this has made for lively, provocative cinema, as when Morgan Spurlock subjected himself to a McDonald's-only diet for the fast-food expose Super Size Me. But mostly the trend has transformed documentaries into hectoring screeds, the defining example being Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. The brainwashing style of An Inconvenient Truth, though, makes Moore look like a sober, impartial journalist.

The particular shame here is that if any issue could use more reasoned debate and less propaganda, it is the environmental one. An Inconvenient Truth not only makes the wrong argument--that Al Gore can save the universe--but does so poorly. I didn't stick around for all of the end credits, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the final line read: "Paid for by Citizens for Al Gore."