28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hypocrisy Now, July 1, 2010
Upon viewing this film, a few things struck me the wrong way about this man. In no particular order, he:
1)Doesn't seem have much respect for his wife.
2)Comes off as a self-indulgent attention whore, who then resents it when attention goes to something he did for no other reason but the attention- ie, not using toilet paper.
3)To segue off of that, he won't use toilet paper, yet his wife works for Business Week, and he takes on this endeavor in order to publish both a paperback and hardback book. Which, you guessed it, consumed significantly more trees than simply using toilet paper in the first place would have.
Also, I'm not quite sure what going vegetarian for a year has to do with eating locally or sustainably, seeing as how locally, humanely raised livestock that fit organic guidelines would've fit their diet just as much as his plan to eat only local, organically grown vegetables.
What saves it from being a one-star film is that, in his own misguided way, he did advocate some things that would legitimately help if people continued to do it, such as supporting your local farmers and producers, riding bikes if one's healthy enough to do so, and limiting our waste; unfortunately, the positives came with a good portion of BS that had to be endured to get there by a man more worried about how many people would think he was awesome than the cause itself, and it's also nothing groundbreaking.
And that little quip about farming not being hard? Charming. That's truly endearing to anyone who's actually done more than twist a garden weasel into the ground to plant parsley where someone else already did the work.
I'm a firm believer in the cause of sustainability, but this tool makes a mockery out of the experiment with haphazard rules he makes up along the way. Where the power came from to make this film in the first place, even in the "no electricity" phase, and how he always gets just enough juice to power his blog on simply completes the charade. He was so insecure that his story would be lost, he couldn't even last the 6 months without updating his blog or filming. In essence, "no impact" doesn't represent his ultimate goal, but his ultimate fear- that his stunt would be forgotten about so quickly if he didn't make himself available during his fasting of consumerism, that the end result would truly have no impact.
To me, that speaks volumes about the level of faith he actually has in the cause.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
nobody's perfect--but the, February 14, 2010
great little documentary, if you can learn to tolerate beavan early on. it's been said before, he's a lame-o, but it bears repeating. it's unfortunate the filmmakers were saddled with such a huge obstacle (beavan) as this man totally impacts the film like "the annoying guy your best friend is dating". you just have to suffer thru him.
it pays off though! schein manages to salvage the film with interesting, intimate shots. you walk away realizing "nobody's perfect", that we are all struggling with ourselves, our ideals, our way of living.
the film gets blasted for not being THE eco-primer on sustainable living. well, it ain't. and the truth is, it's a better film for it.
you wanna learn how to recycle, be green? there's tons of info out there, find it.
seeing a man, his family struggle with their conscious, that's a way more interesting story.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great film, December 2, 2009
Very well done film and very eye-opening. I saw the premier in NYC and found it illuminating and inspiring even as someone who already lives "green." It showed not only what the family experienced in terms of reducing their impact but also how it affected their marriage and social life which was interesting and added depth to the story. My only negative was actually that it should have been called "No Impact Family" because his wife and daughter participated too and should be given credit as such.
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