Matt Damon's Controversial Oil Drama Is A Must-Watch For Landman Fans

Taylor Sheridan's streaming empire expanded late last year when "Landman" (which he created with Christian Wallace) premiered on Paramount+. The drama stars Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, a petroleum landman for an energy company looking to dominate the oilfields of West Texas. As he's demonstrated throughout his career with "Yellowstone" and its spinoffs, Sheridan has a nighttime soap writer's love for big rural business and the big families that run them, and his sizable fan base can't get enough of the "Dallas"-esque power struggles and betrayals that come with this big money territory.

"Landman" was an instant hit, which was great news for Sheridan, but the fervor the show generated has left fans impatiently awaiting Season 2. Though they can take heart in knowing that production started on the new season last April, Paramount+ has yet to announce when the next round of episodes will air. Hopefully, the show will return no later than the end of this year, but that still leaves the "Landman" faithful with one heckuva long wait. Is there anything out there that might scratch that wildcat itch between now and, what, November? Yes. It's called George Stevens' "Giant."

If you've already seen "Giant" (and inexplicably don't feel the need to treat yourself to a magnificent American epic starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean again), there is a more recent movie that deals with the oil industry and, what's more, stars Matt Damon as a landman. This one takes place in Pennsylvania, and it's a good deal more controversial than Sheridan's hit series.

Gus Van Sant's "Promised Land" entered the 2012 awards season as something of a prestige film thoroughbred. It reunited Van Sant with his "Good Will Hunting" and "Gerry" star Matt Damon, and featured Frances McDormand, John Krasinski, Rosemary DeWitt, and Hal Holbrook in supporting roles. The movie also tackled the hot-button issue of hydraulic fracturing, aka "fracking," the process through which drillers shoot water, sand, and chemicals into the earth to free up trapped gas and oil.

Fracking is great for oil and gas companies, but it has long been linked to contaminated drinking water, cattle deaths, and cancer clusters. These concerns are addressed in "Promised Land," but the major issue is the town's hesitance to cave to the aggressive offers being made by Damon's landman on behalf of his energy company employer. As a socially conscious drama, "Promised Land" is heavy-handed at times and, due to a major plot twist in the third act, a bit of a stacked deck (if you're interested in the film's truthiness, it's been fact-checked all over the internet). But Van Sant successfully makes up for these shortcomings by giving his cast ample space to sink into their characters and charm our pants off. Damon and DeWitt are so good together, I consider it an outrage that no one has managed to reteam them in a romantic comedy in the 13 years since the film's release.

If you're looking for oilman swagger and family feuds, "Promised Land" will not scratch your "Landman" itch (though /Film's got a list of 12 shows that will). But if you just like watching great actors make gentle magic out of a keenly observed human drama (under the direction of a master like Van Sant), this film just might put a smile on your face – and, especially now, that's worth more than all the oil in the Earth's soil.