AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER – Review

As the Summer slowly dissolves into Fall, film goers have been regularly bombarded, on an almost weekly basis, with follow-ups and franchise entries. But here’s something unique, a documentary sequel (hey, the “s-word” is even in the title). Well, fairly unique considering the acclaimed PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS inspired several follow-ups, spin-offs (WEST OF MEMPHIS) and a docudrama. But this new film is rare in its original’s influence on the culture, becoming a fertile source of satire while actually making a splash at the box office, and later garnering not one, but two Academy Awards (Best Song and Best Documentary Feature…a double play). So ten years has passed since the original and former vice-president Al Gore is still fighting the good fight in AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER.

Yes like the last film, Gore is the main focus, a true action hero who’s as much of a globetrotter as a certain super spy. A little grayer (he cracks a great joke about how his hair has helped him be anonymous), but still filled with purpose. While the 2006 film was basically an expansion of his power point presentation (complete with rapt audience), here he’s rallying and organizing “the troops”. In between helping train groups from many countries on becoming advocates for a healthier environment, Mr. Gore is seeing the effects of climate change first hand. He hikes through the melting arctic, then dons goloshes to wade through the flooded streets of Miami. But he’s not a “one note” harbinger of doom, as he visits factories that make devices to harness the power of the sun and wind, then goes to a small Texas town that has gone fully sustainable. These talks and visits are a lead-up to the main event (in an action film it would be like the final super-hero/ super-villain smack down), the Paris Climate Conference of last year that Gore hopes (and works tirelessly) will lead to all the countries signing the landmark Climate Agreement.

Replacing Davis Guggenheim behind the camera is the directing “tag team” of Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk who keep the film moving at a brisk clip, and, most importantly, keep up with the astoundingly energetic Mr. Gore. Though he’s not on the re-election campaign trail (he tells one reporter that he’s a “reformed politician”, a nice quip), Gore’s using those old skills to bring people on board his “whistle-stop” train. Plus we get an insider’s view of his “wheeler-dealer” skills that kept him in office so long, when he “burns the midnight oil” to convince a tech mogul to make a great gift in order to prevent India from backing out of the Paris Agreement (in one of the most dramatic moments, the country’s rep stuns the crowds when he, figuratively, “drops the mike” during a speech). During his last presidential run, Gore was lambasted and lampooned for a being too stiff and structured (memories of SNL’s “lock box” digs), but we see his affable charm when he visits a tiny Texas town (a real “red’ state) that’s gone green. Gore and the GOP mayor a great comedy team (Al even poses for a photo at the front of the Republican part HQ). But he’s not all”chuckles” as the film makers focus in on Gore’s passion, letting us see his frustration with a stubborn senator at a hearing, or as he apologizes (no need really) for letting his anger creep out (just a tad) while lecturing on how “big energy” is tossing money at stopping his efforts. His travels present us with remarkable images, from the arctic (the melting ice produces a liquid flow that would make any water-theme park envious) to the heat of South Asia (the extreme temps literally melt the streets as residents are trapped like flies on gooey glue paper trying to cross intersections while they dodge abandoned shoes and sandals). And there’s a powerful callback to 06 as Gore mentions the criticism of that earlier film for suggesting that rising sea levels would plague NYC, even flooding Ground Zero. Cut to news footage from Hurricane Sandy as water gushes through the subways and that same hallowed ground. And there’s the aftermath of another storm, Katrina, with “Nola” still recovering (Gore refers to it as another “super weather” event). Other global problems are touched upon (refugees) and Gore shows how climate change has contributed, even as terrorist attacks disrupt a planned 24 hour streaming media summit from Paris. Aside from the natural (and human-influenced) disaster, this tale has a great villain in an unlikely political candidate who rises to power while the Paris summit is in the works (we almost expect to hear a menacing JAWS-like theme during his campaign soundbites). But Gore promises hope, an encouraging “light at the end of the tunnel”, and, as with the previous film, he does deliver. This inspiring follow-up is a terrific entertainment (or should it be “info-tainment”), that’s far from homework. It’s also an intimate (though there’s little about the upheaval in Gore’s personal life) portrait of one man who’s truly making a difference. AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER is a superb bookend to its celebrated predecessor. Just a shame that Gore’s “recovering”, because the halls of government could use more men with passion and vision.

4 Out of 5

AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas