Posted on Thu, Oct. 15, 2009 02:15 PM
‘No Impact Man’: High impact inspiration and humor | 3 stars
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‘No Impact Man’ ★★★
Not rated | Time: 1:33
No TV. No cars, buses or subways. No conspicuous consumption.
Frustrating, but we could do it.
No eating out. No food that comes in packages. No meat. And no fruit or veggies that traveled more than 150 miles to get to the table.
Difficult, but at least it sounds healthy.
No electricity. No using the elevator. No toilet paper.
Oh, c’mon!
In Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein’s new documentary, “No Impact Man” (opening today at the Tivoli), a Manhattan writer and his family spend an entire year trying to live with virtually no carbon footprint.
It’s kinda inspiring.
It’s also very funny.
Declaring himself “No Impact Man,” Colin Beavan decided to go green in a radical way by trying to produce zero trash. He talked wife Michelle Conlin — a writer/editor for BusinessWeek magazine — into going along with his draconian idea and bringing along their toddler daughter. At the end of the year Beavan would write a book about their experiences.
Beavan tries to be logical and calm about it, but you get the impression he’s a true believer. His wife isn’t so sure, and one of the film’s repetitive highlights is the way she rolls her eyes in loving exasperation as the hubby earnestly talks environmental responsibility to the camera.
Folks, this marriage is rock solid. Otherwise it would have quickly spun apart.
Conlin, who as a motorist has always hated the cyclists on NYC’s crowded streets, now finds herself pedaling a bike or pushing herself to work on a scooter. A fast-food devotee, she now must learn to cook (Beavan reluctantly allows them to use their gas stove).
Their daughter is delighted with the new washing machine … a bathtub filled with clothing in which the family treads as if stomping grapes. But only Beavan is thrilled to have a colony of earthworms in the living room (they turn waste into compost), and even he is dismayed when their box becomes a breeding ground for houseflies. (Of course, using a commercial insecticide is out of the question.)
Conlin compensates by reveling in her job in a nice office tower with air conditioning, a refrigerator and, if she’s feeling really evil, coffee.
They do make it through the entire year — “Good Morning America” was there the day they flipped the electricity back on. And even Conlin, a sardonic doubter when the test began, finds that something has clicked inside her. Doing more with less is actually fun.
And now she can do it while enjoying a coffee.
Columbia Pictures is developing a feature film based on the documentary. It’s expected to hit theaters in 2012.
| Robert W. Butler
Posted on Thu, Oct. 15, 2009 02:15 PM
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