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The Unforeseen

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The Unforeseen (2007)

86%
91%
100%
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86 %
Reviews Counted: 28 Fresh: 24  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 7.4/10
 
Consensus: A calm documentary that doesn't resort to shrill polemics, The Unforeseen also benefits from great interview subjects and jaw-dropping cinematography.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 88 mins

Theatrical Release: Feb 29, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Laura Dunn's feature-length directorial debut is a profoundly stirring, visually stunning, and emotionally overpowering work of epic beauty. Sharing a kinship with the film's executive producer, Terrence Malick, Dunn's lyrical nonfiction poem reaches levels of transcendence not... Laura Dunn's feature-length directorial debut is a profoundly stirring, visually stunning, and emotionally overpowering work of epic beauty. Sharing a kinship with the film's executive producer, Terrence Malick, Dunn's lyrical nonfiction poem reaches levels of transcendence not often encountered in cinema. Malick and Robert Redford teamed up to executive produce this documentary about the problems of urban sprawl in Austin, Texas. An ambitious land developer there has big dreams, but they endanger beloved Barton Springs as well as the town as a whole. Redford defends the springs, the spot where he first learned to swim. Bradley's plan to build yet another subdivision that would disturb the beautiful natural swimming hole aroused a swell of communal emotion that challenged big business and development in a manner heretofore unseen. As Dunn tells her personal tale, using archival footage, gorgeous graphic effects, lush photography (courtesy of Lee Daniel), and present-day interviews with the formative players (Bradley, former governor Ann Richards, and many others), THE UNFORESEEN begins to speak on a much grander scale, challenging viewers to confront similar situations that continue to plague their own cities and neighborhoods. But where Dunn reveals her true humanity is in her portrait of Bradley, a reviled figure whom most opponents wouldn't take the time to try to understand. It is this rejection of anger and bitterness in favor of understanding and hope that makes THE UNFORESEEN such a transformative viewing experience and elevates it to greatness. [More]

Genre: Education/General Interest

Starring: Robert Redford, Willie Nelson, Ann Richards, Wendell Berry

Director: Laura Dunne
Producer: Jef Sewell, Douglas Sewell, Laura Dunne

Reviews

 
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B+

A thought-provoking documentary that's both informative and strangely poignant--as well as beautifully shot and edited.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/20/08
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
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3/4

By turns rapturously beautiful and unspeakably sad while considering the consequences of unchecked urban sprawl.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/08
Joe Leydon
Houston Chronicle
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/02/08
Jonathan Crocker
Time Out
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5/6

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/02/08
Mark Holcomb
Time Out New York
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N/A

Laura Dunn captures the national ecological battle in microcosm...

Full Review | comment Comment
04/03/08
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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4/4

No one who sees this intriguing documentary will want to argue with reporter Greider when he forcefully insists, "We need a more mature regard for the future." We do indeed.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/14/08
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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3.5/4

[Cinematographer] Daniel has never shot a film for Malick, though you'd hardly guess so, given The Unforeseen's poetic and dreamy shots of nature that, like the images that open the Malick's "The Thin Red Line," hint at an Earthly paradise.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/14/08
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
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2.5/4

This one purports to be different by including interviews with the evil, rich developers, but the film is very subtly slanted away from them.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/13/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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N/A

The Unforeseen is a poetic and high-minded meditation on American developers’ manifest destiny and the cancer it introduces into the natural world.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/10/08
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
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2/4

As frustrating as it is welcome.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/07/08
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
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B

Helmer [Laura] Dunn, though her heart is on her sleeve, gives an even-handed view of things from both sides.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/07/08
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
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N/A

An unusually poetic and meditative eco-themed documentary, Laura Dunn's The Unforeseen is as beautiful as it is ultimately depressing.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/05/08
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
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7/10

What do Willie Nelson and one of the world's biggest environmental killers have in common? Austin Texas! A very local perspective on the corporate war on the environment

Full Review | comment Comment
03/04/08
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics
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3.5/4

Though fittingly directed by Laura Dunn, one can't help but feel the presence of producer Terrence Malick.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/08
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine
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4/4

[Director Laura] Dunn's elegant, full-length debut presents a frightening and powerful argument against the kind of reckless, profit-driven land development that not only threatens natural resources, but life itself.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/29/08
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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3/5

The Unforeseen explores the rights of man, the death of nature, the water below, the air above and all that going, going, gone green in between.

comment Comment
02/29/08
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
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4.5/5

Calling The Unforeseen a documentary somehow feels crass. It's a work of art.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/29/08
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com
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4/5

a striking debut

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com
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B+

The movie wavers between Sundance-friendly issue film and spiritual reverie.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Sam Adams
Onion AV Club
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B

Add The Unforeseen to the catalog of artfully produced nonfiction films that show how humans are screwing up the planet.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
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(2008 release/Docu)-Laura Dunn’s THE UNFORESEEN opens on Friday, February 29th!!!
by: ReelReviewer.com 3/14
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