No Impact Man: The Documentary 2009

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: No Impact Man -- the film and the book -- could well end up instruction manuals. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A strange yet riveting portrait of a marriage enduring a year spent making as little environmental impact as possible. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: The film, like Beavan himself, leaves an unholy mess of contradictions in its wake, but most productively, a great deal of those contradictions are our own. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: No Impact Man is a very confused documentary that somehow puts its confusion to good use. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Finally an environmental advocacy film for those of us who have the best of intentions but a weakness for Peet's espressos, takeout dinners and an occasional Marc Jacobs sale, to say nothing of a dependence on toilet paper... Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It all seems like a stunt, especially since Beaven has also written a just-published book about his experiences, but he and Conlin are an engaging pair who don't let zealotry get in the way of humor. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Read more

Sara Vilkomerson, New York Observer: The family has its struggles, certainly, but even more than a statement about the environment, No Impact Man offers a thoughtful narrative on the compromises of marriage and how this particular couple found a way to meet in the middle. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Like reality TV, there are moments of drama that have an aura of awkward self-consciousness about them and incidents that feel, if not staged, at the very least orchestrated, amped up. But you have to hand it to Beavan and Conlin. Read more

David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle: It may not be the greatest of cinematic exercises, and it often feels contrived, but this documentary somehow is enlightening, ridiculous, foreboding and funny at the same time. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: You may find Colin Beavan unbearably smug, but at the heart of his mission lies an inconvenient truth: Our consumable, disposable, unsustainable culture is destroying the planet, and there's no way to change that without making sacrifices. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: This poignant, provocative documentary reduces the green movement to human scale -- and magnifies the size of mountain it's trying to climb. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, Time Out: Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: How much can we possibly glean from a guy whose idealism can be measured with a calendar? Read more