Review - The 11th Hour

Leonardo Dicaprio is no Al Gore and The 11th Hour, most definitely, is not An Inconvenient Truth. The film makes one huge mistake by failing to be engaging; people aren't exactly jumping at the chance to save the Earth so you would think that, at the very least, the filmmakers behind this wannabe-relevant film would have done something besides splicing hundreds of interviews together. You know there is a problem when the most entertaining thing about your film is Stephen Hawking's electronic voice.
The film does manage to do a few things right. It features some truly inspired camerawork-- everything from devastating natural disasters to a waddling flock of penguins. Dicaprio also trots out quite an impressive list of experts to support his assertions. It is inspiring to see such a wide variety of people coming together under the banner of environmentalism. As an audience, we are treated to testimonies from physicists, Native Americans, ex-Directors of the CIA, politicians and people from just about every other walk of life. This odd assortment of personalities certainly trumps 2 hours of Al Gore's dry commentary.
The worst part is that there is a lot of potential in the film. Especially, towards the end, we begin to see some really innovative and inspiring methods of achieving environmental sustainability such as a dance club powered by kinetic energy from the movement of the people. The film offers a hopeful message, tediously explaining that the environmental revolution can happen now, with technologies already in place. However, by the time it gets around to that message, everyone has already fallen asleep.
There is also a weird hippie vibe that permeates a lot of the film. One of the final messages of the film says something along the lines of "love will save the world." This sudden reversion to love after an hour and a half of scientific statistics seems a contradiction at the very least.
Allow me to save you that hour and a half: The earth is in trouble because we are burning through it. We need a change. Now. The End.
Now, go find something else to do with the rest of your night, don't waste your time on this movie.