Excellent movie that offers a realistic look into the world of corporate tactics and behavioral manipulation of the masses. It would seem that the focus was to engage the viewers with the hopes of opening eyes and taking the blinders off. This movie isn't a cheesy film with fight scenes, sex, or cheap thrills but instead offers depth. I can only guess that many of these reviews are from fracking organizations to keep this movie from getting the attention it deserves.

I haven't seen a movie for a while, that would be so honest and deep in so many levels, as this one. I was surprised to see such low grades on it, when everything and everyone in it, are just brilliant. Matt Damon, superb as always, Frances the same, dialogs are good and witty, scenery and message of the movie is touching. Its a crazy thing, where this world is going...We are losing everything and still nobody cares about all that, when the right amount is offered. Yes, there is money in our land, its in the gas or oil, or something else, but when this money is spent, what is there left?what will we eat and where will we live?...Its a scary thought and a scary future, that will happen, whether we like it or not.There isn't a lot of Matt Damons out there that could stop it happen and even he wasn't able to... I will be thinking about this movie and its message for a very long time..

Promised Land starring Matt Damon (Steve Butler) isn't the bad guy. Howver as the son of a grower himself, he's personable, and—for good measure—he makes sure to say, "I'm not a bad guy" to many of the people he meets. Gus Van Sant's didactic drama, by contrast, is quite a bad movie, though it takes a little while for that to become evident. When Steve and his business partner, Frances McDormand (Sue), arrive in the rural Pennsylvania community that is their company's latest target, the film revels in atmosphere more than plot. There's a real feel for small-town dynamics: The local watering holes seem populated by genuinely weathered homesteaders as opposed to central-casting extras. And you get a vivid sense of who's running the show. Running at only 106 minutes, Promised Land ultimately becomes and feels more of a run time over of 120 minutes.

"Promised Land" is a movie for the present time in America. Natural gas, oil shale, oil and related explorations are becoming more common. The world's consumption of oil continues to leapfrog, as more and more one- time third world countries acquire some affluence. Energy prices continue to work their way up. Sources of natural energy that once were far too expensive to produce, now become economical. At the same times, many small farm communities continue to shrink, and most become poorer with few jobs and businesses to support the dwindling farm populations. Into this setting, "Promised Land" gives us a story of two employees who move into a rural community to buy up the leases for natural gas exploration and possible production. It's a story about people doing their job in earnest, and about the people of a small town. The town is in rural Pennsylvania, but it could be anywhere in rural America. – as Matt Damon's character, Steve Butler says. And, the people of this community must weigh the promise of prosperity against unknown possible negative effects on their natural surroundings from drilling. There is an interesting twist in this story that comes out at the end. The cast are all quite good. Besides Damon, Frances McDormand co-stars as his sidekick employee, Sue Thompson. John Krasinski is very smooth and believable as Dustin Noble. Rosemarie DeWitt plays Alice, the fifth- grade school teacher. Titus Welliver is Rob, the local guns and grocery story owner. Hal Holbrook, at 88 years of age, is the retired MIT scientist and volunteer high school teacher, Frank Yates. And, the many town folk who are extras add nicely to this story. The scenic shots are something right out of Norman Rockwell's pastoral America. Damon and Krasinski wrote the screenplay for this film. They also co-produced it with director Gus Van Sant. The film moves at a steady pace that may be too slow for some people. Those who need the fast and furious frenzy of constant-action movies to get their adrenalin flowing are not likely to enjoy this film. But, for the rest of us, it's a nice story that the whole family can enjoy.