An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

An Inconvenient Truth takes a serious hard look at one of the most controversial topics today: global warming. It does so by letting Al Gore, a famous activist on this issue, to present his presentation on the big screen - essentially the whole film is just Gore making his presentation.
That may sound very boring, but believe me it's not. In fact, one of the most annoying problems I had with this film is that it took too many detours away from the presentation, talking about Gore's childhood life and other events in his life that made him such an activist on the issue. These detours not only look and feel cheesy, they often diluted the core message of the film, by drawing in other hot issues such as the 2000 US election. These scenes do nothing more than cheesily make Gore look like a saint, and make the whole film look like political propaganda.
That being said, when the film is paying 100% to Gore's presentation, it works 100%. Gore shows his fine speech skills, and the presentation is crisp and clear (which I especially appreciate due to my own profession). The arguments and supporting data are masterfully organized, making the message strong and penetrating. Even though I see myself as one the "so-called skeptics" that Gore refers to with disdain, I find his arguments compelling enough to force myself to think hard. And that just goes to show what a great presentation it is.
In fact, if I had my way with it, I would just show the presentation from start to finish. That's probably the best way to to show it and the only way to do justice to the material, since it's so good. As it is, the film is distracted by those side scenes in between. Still, it's not a film you want to pass.
8/10