Praise and yawns for Gore film

2006-10-15 22:36

Washington - US critics swooned over An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary film about global warming starring ex-vice president Al Gore, but international response has ranged from raves in Oslo to yawns in Bangkok.

Promoted as a true-life disaster flick - "It will shake you to your core ... By far, the most terrifying film you will ever see," the trailer thunders - it is Gore's 80-minute environmental argument about the need for immediate action to combat climate change.

"It carries a strong message and hard fact with Al Gore as the presenter but it is a boring documentary presentation that could have been made more fun and exciting with some editing techniques," Bangkok film critic Natakwang Sirasoonthorn said.

In Norway's capital, Oslo, the movie was the No. 11 box office draw this month.

In eco-friendly Germany, where Gore attended last week's Berlin premiere, the film was a multi-media event, covered by major newspapers and several television news shows. It drew specific praise from German environment minister Sigmar Gabriel at a news conference on energy.

Running for president again?

Some reviewers noted acerbically that parts of the movie could be easily re-tooled to make a political ad if the former Democratic presidential candidate runs for office again.

He won the popular US vote in the 2000 presidential election against George W Bush and the winner was ultimately decided by the US supreme court.

Overall, critics in the United States have been enthusiastic, giving the film an overall 93% positive rating on the RottenTomatoes.com website, which calculates reviewers' opinions. Truth beat Crash, this year's winner of the Academy Award for best picture, which scored 75%, and was only marginally lower than the family-pleasing documentary March of the Penguins, which rated 95%.

An Inconvenient Truth has grossed more than $23.7m in the United States since it opened in May. That makes it the third-highest grossing documentary, behind No. 1 Fahrenheit 9/11 and second-ranked March of the Penguins -- both of which have been running far longer.

- Reuters