Big Men (film)

Last updated
Big Men
Big Men poster.jpg
Directed byRachel Boynton
Written byRachel Boynton
Produced byRachel Boynton
Brad Pitt
StarringJim Musselman, Brian Maxted, George Osuwu, Jeffrey Harris
CinematographyJonathan Furmanski [1]
Edited bySeth Bomse [1]
Music byNathan Larson
Production
companies
Distributed byAbramorama (United States) [2]
Release date
  • March 14, 2014 (2014-03-14) [3]
Running time
99 minutes
CountriesUS, UK, Denmark
LanguageEnglish

Big Men is a 2014 documentary film produced and directed by Rachel Boynton. It examines the oil industry, the development of a new oil field in West Africa, the accusations of corruption that follow, and the resource curse. The film follows Texas-based Kosmos Energy as it attempts to start oil production in the new Jubilee Field off the coast of Ghana. With huge amounts of money at stake, Kosmos juggles its partners in Ghana, financial backers in New York, and the Great Recession that dramatically reduces oil prices. The film also visits Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta, where decades of corruption and lack of development fuel militants, who attempt to gain a share of the oil pie. The film was released on March 14, 2014, to critical acclaim.

Contents

Production

The crew filmed between 2007 and 2011, in Ghana and Nigeria. [4]

Reception

Big Men was acclaimed by critics. It holds a 90/100 on Metacritic [2] and a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [5] In The New York Times , Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that "this cool and incisive snapshot of global capitalism at work is as remarkable for its access as for its refusal to judge." [6] Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice opined that the film "is no simple screed against tick-like profiteers growing fat on malnourished hosts," but instead "a richly detailed portrait". [7] In The Washington Post , Stephanie Merry argued, "Boynton’s most impressive feat in 'Big Men' is how she takes an impossibly convoluted scenario, makes sense of it and tells a story that's riveting on its own but also serves as a parable about greed and human nature." [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Big Men The Movie: Filmmakers" . Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Big Men Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Rachel Boynton". Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Big Men The Movie" . Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Big Men (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. 14 March 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  6. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (March 14, 2014). "Oil Money, and Where It Flows". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  7. ↑ Scherstuhl, Alan (March 12, 2014). "Big Men Reveals How the World of Oil Actually Turns". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ Merry, Stephanie (March 27, 2014). "'Big Men' movie review: Pandora's Box filled with black gold in Africa". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 7, 2017.


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