LAND OF PLENTY — *** — Michelle Williams, John Diehl, Wendell Pierce; not rated, probable R (profanity, violence, ethnic slurs, drugs, brief gore, vulgarity).
"Land of Plenty" is continually trying to prove its point. According to filmmaker Wim Wenders, the biggest threat to post-9/11 America is not so much terrorism as paranoia and poverty.
This independently produced drama is not exactly subtle in the way it goes about saying that, but whether or not you agree, there's still a lot of food for thought here.
There are also some fine performances, as well as a surprising, well-earned and emotional pay-off that comes at the end.
Michelle Williams stars as Lana, a young would-be writer who's just returned from Israel. She's come back to the United States to work on her writing and to track down her estranged uncle Paul (John Diehl). Meanwhile, she's living and working in a homeless shelter.
That's where she finally finds her nearest relative, an emotionally scarred Vietnam vet who roams around the valley in his van, spying on those he considers to be a threat to national security.
Paul is tracking Hassan (Shaun Toub), a Palestinian he believes to be a terrorist. He follows the man to the shelter, and then watches his target become the victim of a drive-by shooting. Against his better judgment, Paul agrees to transport Hassan's body to the California desert, which is where Lana believes the dead man's next of kin are living.
Wenders shot this oddly appealing road movie with digital cameras on a shoestring budget. However, the production is rich in character. Williams' optimistic, open-minded Lana is clearly the film's voice of reason and its most endearing figure, but Wenders, and screenwriters Scott Derrickson and Michael Meredith, are careful not to make Paul too much of a kook. As played by veteran character actor Diehl, he's somewhat sympathetic and tragic. (Supporting players Richard Edson, Burt Young and Wendell Pierce also get a few moments to shine.)
"Land of Plenty" is not rated but would probably receive an R for occasional use of strong profanity and a few ethnic slurs, some strong violence (a shooting and a beating), some drug content (including references to drug use), some brief gore and use of a few crude slang terms. Running time: 118 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com