Al Gore, PowerPoint presentation, entertainment - put them together in a single sentence without getting laughed out of the room.

OK, here goes: "An Inconvenient Truth," Davis Guggenheim's documentary about Al Gore and his PowerPoint presentation on global warming delivers an unexpected, satisfying, and undeniably compelling piece of entertainment. No kidding. In fact, if you are blessed with a reasonably curious and articulate partner it could make for a decent date movie. You're guaranteed to have plenty to talk about once the movie is over.

Global warming had barely tiptoed onto the world stage before it was sucker punched by political spin. What most of us know about global warming is a mish-mash of political ideology and scientific hatchet job. We've been left with a lingering suspicion and a lot of questions. Is global warming little more than academic speculation? Isn't it just part of the same natural cycle that has given us dinosaurs and ice ages in the past? And, what's the big problem if the mean temperature of the world rises a few degrees? (In Seattle, after all, the summers are looking pretty good).

Gore steps into the fray with a mission to piece the factoids back into whole form and paint a clear picture of the scientific perspective on the issue. That he succeeds with an exceptional level of grace and wit may come as a bit of a shock to anyone who's witnessed one of his stump speeches.

Gore has a canny grasp of the relationship between his subject and his audience. He takes on the big questions about global warming and treats them with respect, allowing them to linger, center stage, and bring to bear the full force of their ambiguity before introducing the conclusions of research. It is masterstroke of data-driven story telling - of geek as artist - and PowerPoint (Microsoft's antidote to narrative suspense) has never worked so well as literature.

What is equally surprising is Gore's charm. Somehow he's vanquished the wooden mask of the campaign trail (Isn't it surprising how forcibly separating politicians from power seems to round them out as human beings?). On this stage Gore is an amiable host, sharing a few self-deprecating jokes about his political trials and unguarded delight in riding a power-lift.

For those unsympathetic to the notion, the impacts global warming can seem an abstract and unwelcome intrusion on an otherwise happy relationship with their SUV. To that end "An Inconvenient Truth" is a story of pictures. Photographs of the vanishing ice sheets on Kilimanjaro and the northern Rockies give new meaning to the phrase "glacial pace." It's hard to look at staggering forests, their roots unmoored by melting permafrost, or the decaying ice cap of Greenland and imagine you'll go home and get a peaceful night's sleep.

Guggenheim is smart to let Gore and his slides carry the weight of the story. There are digressions into Gore's travels to deliver his road show and an attempt to flesh out Gore the man. For the faithful these may be enjoyable interludes, but the central theme is so riveting you might find yourself impatient to get back to the point at hand.

You can walk into this movie agreeing or disagreeing - and walk back out agreeing or disagreeing - with Gore's point of view, but either way you'll have gathered a solid, and remarkably compelling, foundation on what the fuss is all about.

But the greatest epiphany may be that while W is a great guy to share a beer with, Al can be just as good company for a leisurely chat over charts and graphs.

Bruce Bulloch can be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com