No Impact Man: A Documentary (2009)

I can’t help but feel the intentions of writer Colin Beavan were sincere, but this documentary is nothing by a whiny video diary from Colin and his wife, Michelle.

The experiment: A yearlong crusade to make little to no net impact on the environment. His intentions are noble. Eating local, organically grown food, shopping intelligently to generate no trash except for compost, and using no carbon-fueled transportation. The crusade soon becomes a war for body and mind for the entire family. And by the fifth day of hearing Michelle want coffee or a chocolate bar or lugging packages, etc… you, the viewer, are disheartened.

The film is admirable, but as I see it, No Impact Man misses the mark. A balance could have been struck here and a better documentary could have been created.