Flyover Online

The film company Paramount Vantage did not hire the air conditioning repairman to mess with the cinema thermostat nor did they break the central air system in the first place. But it would have made for brilliant publicity if they had thought of it. The one movie that benefits from a stifling cinema is director David Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” an elaborate documentary about former Vice President Al Gore and his efforts to inform people about global warming.
The air conditioning was promptly fixed by the tightening of a loose wire. Still, the unseasonably stifling temperatures outside the Cincinnati screening room continued to give an extra boost to Gore’s warnings about rising carbon dioxide and resulting hotter and hotter temperatures.
The outdoors climax occurred soon after the documentary ended and the press returned to their cars. Ferocious thunderstorms brought torrential rain and heavy winds to the Cincinnati area. It’s as if Gore’s multimedia lecture, the core of Guggenheim’s earnest film, came to life with a climactic thunderclap.
Now, I’m not saying Paramount Vantage manipulated the weather to better promote “An Inconvenient Truth.” If they could, if it was at all possible, “An Inconvenient Truth” could turn into the movie of a lifetime. Of course, Al Gore would call it a coincidence destined to become more likely unless the movie inspires people to create real, environmental change.