The 11th Hour

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kenny Ausubel, Stephen Hawking, Thom Hartmann, Wangari Maathai
Directed by: Leila Conners, Nadia Conners
Rating: PG
Genre: Documentary
2007

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Narrator Leonardo DiCaprio examines global warming and how human activity is changing the face of planet Earth.

Review:

Tim: Whether you care or even believe in the current climate crisis currently facing our planet, I recommend seeing The 11th Hour. The film presents some interesting statistics about the level of climate change currently as well as projections for the future. The movie paints a very depressing, sad picture of the world. It also tries to offer at least some hope for the future. This isn't the best documentary in the world, but it is interesting and entertaining.

I'll start with what I like. I liked that Leonardo DiCaprio was so involved in this film. You can tell this cause is important to him- he's not just an actor being an activist because he thinks it's cool. DiCaprio cares about the environment, and in his own way, he's trying to make a difference. You have to appreciate that kind of dedication. DiCaprio does a good job of narrating the film, and his presence adds some nice celebrity to the film also. Wisely, he keeps his involvement to a minimum- he never appears as if he's doing this for his own interest- he is putting the planet first. I'm glad his celebrity did not overshadow the film's message.

I also like that this movie went out and got a huge number of scientists and specialists to discuss the environmental situation. It was very interesting to hear from such a wide group of people, including Stephen Hawking and Mikhail Gorbachev. The different views, all sharing similar opinions made this situation seem all the more real. Whether you believe in all this or not, it would be impossible to argue that we as human beings don't need to make some changes in the way we will. I feel like most people, when they look around at the world in which we live will recognize some good things, and many, many bad things. The world is not ideal- it is not even that great of a place to live. Sure, as Americans we often forget what the world is really like outside of our beautiful little bubble (and I personally don't want to live outside it), but things need to change. The Green Movement is pushing forward, but it's too little too slowly. We are in desperate need of major changes in the way we build, the types of products we consume, and the way in which we use energy. Anything that helps that cause (i.e., this movie) is worthwhile.

There were a few things I didn't like. I wish the film had at least briefly flashed the credentials of some of the people interviewed. Unless you knew them already, it was impossible to know who was talking. I'm sure this was done intentionally, but I would have liked to have at least understood who I was listening to speak. Is this person a scientist? A professor? Some random guy off the street? I just wish I knew.

The film is pretty much structured like this- the first hour is meant to make you realize how dire the situation is, and the last thirty minutes are spent giving the audience some hope for the future. I wish more time was spent on the hope, and less time spent making me feel horrible about the planet. By the end of the first hour, I felt pretty depressed about the whole human species and our horrible destruction of this beautiful blue green planet we call home. The last thirty minutes helped, but that part should have been the majority. Yes, the world is pretty screwed up right now- but how do we fix it? That's the part I wanted the film to spend more time on. One guy even poses that question- "If someone says, I want to do something, what can they do?" His answer didn't really give any insight- it mostly boiled down to "Get involved." Get involved in what? The film was unclear. I wish this movie gave more direction or advice about how to get people involved.

But, this film was created for a slightly different purpose- to raise awareness. The movie does a good job of describing the importance of raising people's awareness, and it achieves that goal.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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