IMDb link

As always, the reviews of others pre-colored my thoughts of this movie.  I had heard that it was difficult to understand the plot switches.  This little piece of forewarning was very helpful, because I was sure to concentrate.  Even so, some of the plot was too tangled in badly constructed dialogue.

This movie was full of quotes.  Someone would say a line, and I would want to jot notes so I could use it later, gems such as “it’s not racist if it’s positive” and “corruption is why we win.”  I think the writer may have been so busy filling the movie with profundity that he forgot plot movement and clarity is vital in the American market.

Some of the lack of clarity may have been intentional.  Three plotlines interweave and the theme that binds them is often the confusion of the characters or oil ruining their lives because the culture of oil is a tangled web.  There is no absolute good or evil in the film and each person makes decisions based upon their reality at the moment.

My problem with the movie is that there are two audiences of viewers: those that believe the film is more of a documentary than fiction and those that think none of the film’s concepts are plausible.  Both insulate themselves from the fact that we do not know that truth and cannot suppose to understand the climate of oil culture.

Whether truth or fiction, I started thinking more about how much I dislike our oil gluttony.  I think E85 is only a crutch used by automakers who don’t want to really leap into alternative fuels; however, it is quickly renewable and its source can be grown almost anywhere in the world.  Then again, it takes energy to make it, and it only delivers 66% of gasoline’s energy per gallon, and the facts are so politically charged that who knows where the truth lies.

Hey…wait…I’m talking about energy in the middle of a movie review.  Maybe the director accomplished his purpose.

If you want to feel like you’re seeing something that is “high art,” good for you, you should rent this.  If you just want to watch a superhero save us from ourselves, there are better choices.

[rate 3]