The Last Mountain
Dada Films | Release Date: June 3, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 2, 2011
If Mr. Haney sometimes struggles to find focus, he has no trouble locating heroes, including the doggedly energetic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a slew of stalwart locals and fearless outsiders. And the black heart of coal country - and, as the film shows, our national energy debate - has never seemed so in need of white knights. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJun 16, 2011
The Last Mountain, more than anything, asks us to consider where our energy comes from, and how we can bring about changes that benefit all of us and the planet we live on. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJames GreenbergMay 29, 2011
The Last Mountain makes a powerful case against the coal mining industry in West Virginia. Films like this are largely preaching to the choir -- opponents are unlikely to go near it. But its importance cannot be underestimated. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazineSteve RamosMay 29, 2011
It's by the book advocacy docmaking at its best. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterJul 21, 2011
For the most part he (Haney) lets the people and images of Coal River Valley speak for themselves – and that's what gives The Last Mountain its eloquent power. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJul 14, 2011
A compelling examination of a complex topic. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 22, 2011
A film like The Last Mountain fills me with restless anger. I have seen many documentaries like this, all telling versions of the same story. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenJun 16, 2011
Yet another dispiriting depiction of corporate clout, The Last Mountain offers hope, too, in the form of wind-power success stories and the passion of frontline activists. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumJun 8, 2011
The movie's power is undercut by the overemphasized presence of celebrity traveling environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisJun 23, 2011
The Last Mountain is that sort of movie, the sort that sends a Kennedy into the West Virginia wilderness to press for change. It's sincere. It's misguided. It feels like a stunt. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerMay 30, 2011
Haney's movie is not great cinema, nor was meant to be, but as an introduction to one of the myriad dangers threatening our earth, it serves its cause well enough. And that, after all, is the whole point. Read full review
60
Time OutNick SchagerMay 31, 2011
The director's righteous anger is less restrained than his conventional vérité aesthetics and less off-putting than his one-sided approach to the issues at hand - an advocacy for alternative wind-turbine energy is suspiciously sketchy - yet he smartly allows coal-exploiting bigwigs plenty of screen time to properly hang themselves. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJul 14, 2011
Provides lots of good information for newcomers to the cause. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallJun 23, 2011
This forceful expose shows how area residents are fighting to keep their beloved Coal Mountain pristine, but filmmaker Bill Haney allots too much screen time to environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and barely any to the urban consumers in distant states whose thirst for cheap electric power is part of the problem. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMark HolcombMay 31, 2011
This environmental exposé confirms every awful suspicion ever raised about the coal industry. Trouble is, the news is so bad and so plentiful that The Last Mountain may have you looking for the nearest exit. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsJun 2, 2011
There's something grating about the way The Last Mountain keeps returning to picket-line confrontations between environmental activists. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithJun 3, 2011
Appalachian mountains get blown up to extract coal in the documentary The Last Mountain, a film in which activists are at least as hot as the TNT. Read full review
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