Surviving Progress 2011

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Zippily edited and nicely photographed, "Surviving Progress" is a fine summary of a hot ugly mess. But like too many short documentaries, it can't do justice to its complex topic or finally to those of us watching. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: [A] truly disturbing documentary, which pretty much argues that human beings are hard-wired to self-destruct. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: A slick jeremiad, "Surviving Progress" is expertly made (it's far from tedious) but intellectually muddled. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks, adapting a book by Ronald Wright, argue so persuasively that the human race is spinning out of control. Read more

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: This cautionary documentary makes a strong case that our technological advances are in fact dooming us. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: A provocative if scattershot documentary from directors Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks, who wander off topic more than once as they introduce myriad other voices. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The cumulative power of so many great minds envisioning our potential self-destruction is undeniable. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: [A] remarkably cogent, albeit remarkably alarming, film. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's self-evident and tells the truth. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Maybe the people in this movie really don't know what they're talking about. In any case, believing them gets you nowhere, because they offer nothing. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: They shy away from proposing solutions, and the filmmakers capture humanizing clashes that illustrate the challenges of finding a balance that serves all parties. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: These are critically important issues, but it needs a sharper point to get through thick skulls, and even evolved humans who are tired of the treadmill of progress might ask: What else is new? Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: Though often fascinating and beautiful to look at, Surviving Progress falls into the adapting-a-book-into-a-movie trap. Trying to do too much too fast. Read more

Andrew Schenker, Time Out: Like the myriad dangers threatening the earth, the film is simply too unwieldy, a sprawling mass of ideas that are dutifully checked off and then given only superficial explanations in lieu of insightful explorations. Read more

Greg Quill, Toronto Star: Crucial, captivating and profoundly disturbing... Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Surviving Progress offers a cinematic wakeup call so cogent and non-didactic even Tea Partyers would be hard-pressed to shrug it off. Read more

Ernest Hardy, Village Voice: The anticapitalism prognosis is grim, and the hope offered is slim indeed. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks's powerful but pessimistic documentary look at the corner we humans seem to be painting ourselves into, economically, ecologically and otherwise. Read more