Laurie McCammon

I totally disagree with the negative reviews. I thought Matt Damon’s performance was subtle, nuanced and very real. Perhaps the bad reviews are a result of the movie being marketed as a comedy, which it certainly isn’t. I found this movie’s premise utterly fascinating and even plausible. It somehow felt truly honest and intuitive in a way most movies don’t, down to the fact that Norwegians, not Americans, are at the forefront of spiritual evolution and environment in many ways. I truly commend Matt Damon for being in a movie that makes you think so deeply about climate change and our options/difficult choices for survival. My only complaint is the last five or ten minutes of the film. Collapsing it into a love story seemed a cop out to me. I felt Matt Damon’s character was much more true to himself when he took stock of all the coincidences that caused him to end up where he was.To me, what was so engaging about the movie was that it constantly had me thinking about what I would do in his shoes. It felt like a kind of dress rehearsal for future situations we may face as a humanity. Somehow, I have a feeling that when climate change becomes so dire - and it will - this is the kind of stark personal decision we will each need to make for ourselves. Will we cling to our former lives and patterns despite a collapsing ecosystem, or have the courage to embrace possibility despite the risk of the the unknown? No easy answers!!! For this reason, it was a truly entertaining and impactful film for me.