Starring Babz Chula, Tricia Helfer, Jillian Fargey, and August Schellenberg. Rated PG. Opens Friday, March 6, at the Fifth Avenue Cinemas

If one were in the intimate confines of a small playhouse and were addressed directly by the participants here—all in some way involved in forestry—a sense of provocation would no doubt be in the air. Unfortunately, The Green Chain is a movie, and not quite enough of one to satisfy as drama or craft.

Veteran humorist, playwright, and Georgia Straight contributor Mark Leiren-Young comes up with many good turns of phrase, as you would expect. But it’s not easy being Green; the first-time writer-director has come up with something that’s more of a discussion-starting polemic than a cinematic experience. It does, of course, offer decent workouts for the small gaggle of thespians featured in this B.C.–made effort, each representing different and cumulatively ambiguous viewpoints in the struggle over the Pacific Northwest’s most precious resource.

Among the self-professed tree lovers are Brendan Fletcher as a high-climbing protester, local great Babz Chula as an activist languishing in jail, Scott McNeil as a jockish lumberjack, and Jillian Fargey (who won a Leo for this) as a small-town waitress who can’t see past her own logging-dependent community.

The weakest segment has Tricia Helfer as a Hollywood type hired to put a pretty face on an environmental PSA. And the best has veteran August Schellenberg as a First Nations manager of a large tree-cutting outfit. Only the latter’s character has enough complexity to hold interest beyond the obvious jobs-versus-planet points. I would gladly see a movie in which this guy interacted with those who disagreed with him. The rest of these don’t quite qualify as people whose lectures you’d pay money to attend.