Fields of Fuel

It's hard to come in to a documentary about such an important and interesting subject and be so badly disappointed. Bio-fuels have a nearly endless amount of material to talk about, but from the first minute Fields of Fuel launched head-on into a glowing biopic of "a lone bio-fuels champion fighting against corporate America." Which might not be too bad, except the lone hero is also the director of the film. Ridiculously indulgent scenes such as staring straight into the camera and exclaiming in a shocked voice, "I'd been back and forth across the country educating people, and nothing had changed!" made me want to throw things at the screen.

The focus broadened out a bit in the second half, but never seemed to get beyond "Documentary Light." Easy on the facts, heavy on the "think of the children" rhetoric, and not particularly good at either. Since the director was present people had a chance to ask about the recent media backlash against bio-fuels, and his responses to those questions were far more interesting than anything in the film itself, which is really a shame.