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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: April 8, 2008 Distributor: Warner Independent Pictures Director: · Nadia Conners · Leila Conners Petersen Cast: · Leonardo DiCaprio Grade: C+

Perhaps you already knew this - mankind is an endangered species. If we don't gather our collective conscious together we will corrupt this planet so definitively that we will become extinct. That is the message of "The 11th Hour", whether you agree or disagree with the science, that is what you should be afraid of.

With the runaway success of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", it didn't take long for a sequel. While, technically, not a sequel, "The 11th Hour" picks up similar themes but uses a different approach. Unlike "An Inconvenient Truth", "The 11th Hour" uses multiple talking heads to cover a variety of sustainability topics in lieu of just one Mr. Gore. That, for me, defines the real struggle for this movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio puts his name on the line for this movie as its star (narrator) and producer. Unlike Al Gore, DiCaprio isn't the central focus of this movie and is heard more than he is seen. DiCaprio relies on talking heads to do his heavy lifting and picks up their crumbs for the heavy-hitting dramatic summaries. This is probably the best way for DiCaprio to be involved in a movie like this, but that doesn't make for a great movie. By leaving many different voices to speak on a multitude of topics the overall theme gets more complicated than necessary. DiCaprio is in no way an expert. But, trimming down the cast to 4 or 5 strong voices would have been a better fit.

Mixed in with the multiple talking heads, the visuals of this movie will soothe your brain after some of the more complex discussions. Some of the scenery looks as good as the visuals ofBBC's "Planet Earth" series. These visuals keep the movie from getting bogged down in over-intellectual banter and will help some of the regular brain from losing touch with the message of this movie.

Because this review is intended to be a critical look at the movie being shown and not the message, there really isn't very much else to dissect. The message DiCaprio is sending is important. Unfortunately, that same message is not as straightforward as it should be and definitely not as effective as "An Inconvenient Truth".

The extras here are just as complex as the content of the movie with none of the pretty visuals. If you're educator this might be a goldmine for your class. But for most of the rest of the world, this is just more of the same but we even more specifics. One feature of this DVD that I really liked was the packaging. Instead of the super duper plastic packaging all DVDs come in, this disc comes in a paper sleeve about the size of a greeting card. Great environmental statement and exactly how every DVD and CD should be packaged.