The 11th Hour (2007)

The 11th Hour is an environmental documentary produced, written, and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. In between DiCaprio's inspired speeches on sweeping vistas are interviews with many politicians, environmental activists, and scientists.

They have interesting information to share - such as the estimate that it'd take $35 trillion to replace nature (although we're not sure how that'd work, we do know it's nearly twice the amount of all the world economies in 2007). They tell us that for each truckload of products made, 32 truckloads of waste are also produced. In a study, kids could recognize 1,000 corporate logos but less than 10 local plants or animals.

They have an encouraging yet practical perspective. They acknowledge that there's "no milage in telling people they're making the wrong choices" and that the consumption is not bad but rather it's the fact that it's gotten so out of balance that's the problem. They have ideas for solutions. One being biomimicry, which seems like the ultimate poetic justice - saving the earth with ideas from nature. A biomimicry idea already put into practice is adding small bumps to paint. These bumps stop dirt from settling so rain can easily run it off, making buildings self-cleaning. The idea was derived from an observation about the petals of a lotus.

Overall there's a lot of information to digest and there's where the film runs into some problems. While the editing is well done, it's still too much to take in at once and too high-level to reach and inspire the masses. Aside from the aforementioned DiCaprio vista speeches, the visuals are minimal and much of the stock footage looks dated. Not to mention several of the experts have nearly monotone speech patterns. Solutions for the environment that are already in process are flashed upon the screen but they aren't discussed, leaving the viewer feeling like they're just concepts instead of steps in the right direction.

While full of knowledge, thoughtfulness, and good intentions the 11th Hour doesn't have enough appeal to inspire the masses to rise up and save the world.

Rating: 2.5/5
Recommended for: Segmented viewing