The worst part about any activism is when the man eclipses the message. Cool It is supposed to be Bjorn Lomborg’s response to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth but it falls into the mistakes of that film and then can never redeem it.
Lomborg isn’t in the belief that global warming is a myth; he just doesn’t think it’s as essential as a problem as so many other problems facing the planet. He displays some more practical ways to tackling some of the energy issues. (Including nuclear power, which makes this the most unfortunate DVD release since Hereafter.)
There are plenty of effective arguments, but the documentary does not cover any of them well. In a brief 88 minutes, majority of the film is spent on Lomborg’s Christ like status. He’s seen talking to children, an impoverished African village, and to his Alzheimer’s affected mother. Al Gore’s personal life was an unnecessary diversion from his PowerPoint in Truth, but it was never half of the film.
The rest of it is underdeveloped and not convincing. There is a portion of the film criticizing Gore and the government for their use of scare tactics. Lomborg says the world shall not fall into the ocean or all of the poles shall completely melt. Instead of focusing on the science, the film keeps focusing on what’s not happening. There are random celebrity clips of them talking about recycling or children being afraid of the end of the world. The film even seems to be using the tactics it’s against by having the DVD cover show the world surrounded by bills and burning up.
Any interview with a professional is undercut by cheap editing and a focus on sound bites than a through argument. There is a lot of potential of having this counter argument. Yet it’s too self-aware about that position. Al Gore’s name is said so many times, it’s almost like it’s a personal attack of him. With a weak presentation of its stance, the film’s message seems more like “Eh, it’s not that bad.” What a missed opportunity.
The extras include deleted scenes from a really short movie.
Film: 2 Yaps
Extras: 2 Yaps
http://www.thefilmyap.com/2011/03/28/cool-it/
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