An Inconvenient Truth: Critic Reviews

An Inconvenient Truth can't, of course, reveal a future that is still up to us, but by the time you're done watching, the real question is, Which way on God's green earth would you want to err?

An Inconvenient Truth is a necessary film.

Despite or perhaps because of Gore's schoolmasterly attitudes, his arguments have force. A kind of anti-charisma sees it through.

What could have been mired in political rhetoric or techno-speak is instead illuminating, fascinating and sometimes frightening.

While Gore's onstage presentation tells us nothing new, it has a renewed -- call it recycled -- potency, in light of a growing scientific consensus about changing weather patterns.

In an eco-horror show that politely masquerades as a documentary, the former vice president effectively warns of man-made cataclysm.

... the film makes for compelling psychobiography despite the fact that Gore, stiff as an air-conditioned breeze at the Four Seasons, isn't the least bit compelling himself.

The film succeeds powerfully, even though it's short on practical solutions, makes some questionable statements of fact and, given Gore's current ambiguous position in public life, requires a tighter focus on the message than on the messenger.

A film that invests hard science with impassioned moral drive.

An Inconvenient Truth, like its star, is quite persuasive in framing global warming as a crisis rapidly accelerating along with the planet's population. That means us. And that means the potential to take action.

Will likely make you admire Al Gore a little more than you already do, worry about the planet a lot more than you already do, and finally, leave you with as many questions as when you started.

An Inconvenient Truth is one of the most realistic documentaries I've ever seen -- and, dry as it is, one of the most devastating in its implications.

It will be interesting to watch how skeptics will deal with Gore's bad news on the environment without making themselves look very small.

In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.

In the battle between Big Trouble (Gore's line) and Big Oil (Bush's), fossil fuel won. Even with gas prices it's still winning, which is why An Inconvenient Truth, for all its limitations as cinematic agitprop, deserves an audience.

Really two movies: a sobering lecture about a globe that's getting warmer and a profile of a leader whose career has always been hindered by his apparent lack of warmth.

A powerful film that educates as it engages.

Matter of fact, it's surprisingly entertaining, if ultimately shocking.

Despite quibbles over details, the case [Gore] presents is compelling, and anyone who isn't sure whether global warming is a mounting crisis or a massive hoax should see this film.

An excellent educational tool.

... much of what Gore says in this slide show he gives to people whose minds are not yet fully formed (undergraduates, actors) is absurd, and his assertions often contradict each other.

Political will, Gore suggests, is a renewable resource. Maybe he has rediscovered his. And maybe, we figure, after we've seen it, we should discover ours.

Mandatory viewing regardless, much as an alarm clock must be heeded despite its annoying ring.

Much of this material is familiar, but presented in total, over the course of 100 minutes, the impact is frightening.

The clarity and simplicity of the presentation is remarkable. Gore is a likable, confident, humorous speaker. And the material reminds us of the need for vigilance.