Barton Springs swimmers in "The Unforeseen"
(Credit: Tom Taylor/The Cinema Guild)
- Photos:
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- Running time:
- 94 minutes
- Cast:
- Robert Redford -
- Willie Nelson -
- Ann Richards -
- Director:
- Laura Dunn
- Genre:
- Documentary
- Official Movie Web Site:
- http://theunforeseenfilm.com/blog/trailer/
- Overall User Rating:
-
(0 ratings)
But the story doesn't end there, and this documentary explores all sides of the bitter economic, political and environmental war. Interview subjects include the late former Texas Governor Ann Richards, Willie Nelson and Robert Redford (who’s also an executive producer).
Big question: Does this debut feature from filmmaker Laura Dunn tell audiences anything about environmental causes that they haven’t already learned from “An Inconvenient Truth” or “The 11th Hour”?
Catch it: Dunn’s use of visually stunning imagery poetically conveys the disconnect between industry and nature and makes it entirely fitting that cinema legend Terrence Malick is another of the film’s executive producers. But don’t expect a languid primer in the philosophy of green living. “The Unforeseen” has some monumental issues to consider, and turns Austin, Texas into a microcosm of America—a heightened battleground in the ongoing struggle between property rights and environmental preservation.
Skip it: Although the film’s ideas go far beyond petty partisanship there’s no question it leans to the left. And, as in so many recent liberal docs, George W. Bush emerges as a super-villain thanks to his pro-development stance as the Governor of Texas. So if that kind of thing upsets you, well…you should see the movie anyway.
Bottom line: “The Unforeseen” uses events from the past to consider where we are in the present and ultimately forces us to confront the future. Passionate without ever becoming strident, Dunn’s film is never more affecting than when it pauses to consider the spiritual and emotional toll that declaring bankruptcy took on a land developer. Calling “The Unforeseen” a documentary somehow feels crass. It’s a work of art.
Bonus: The perfectly chosen musical selections—including songs by Sigur Ros, Willie Nelson, Jeff Beck and Patty Griffin—are just as striking as the film itself.
