The Mountain Between Us Review
PG-13 for a scene of sexuality, peril, injury images, and brief strong language
20th Century Fox, Chernin Entertainment
Dir: Hany Abu-Assad | Writers: Chris Weitz, J. Mills Goodloe
Cast: Idris Elba, Kate Winslet, Dermot Mulroney, Beau Bridges
INTRO: Don’t name your movies 'The ___ Between Us.' They’re relatively not good. Earlier this year we had 'The Space Between Us,' and that was bad. Now we have 'The Mountain Between Us' a romance film starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet based on the 2009 novel of the same name. Good news, this is better than 'The Space Between Us,' but that is not saying much.
Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow-covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing one another to endure and discovering strength they never knew possible.
THE GOOD
EPIC CRASHING
From the first several minutes that this movie begins, the film grippingly hooks you in with a crash scene so epic, that it makes up for 1/16th of the movie’s flaws. You have this brilliant tracking shot of Alex and Ben in this plane flown by Beau Bridges as they start to get to know each other before they crash. It has a quick setup and immensely follows through with it. This one take tracking shot is four minutes long and brilliantly shot. It feels like a 4D rollercoaster ride speaking of which if they release this in 4DX, just go for the sake of that first 10 minutes. That one sequence of when they crash is more intense than several action sequences this year mostly including 'The Mummy.' Sorry screaming Tom Cruise, Elba, and Winslet beat you. After that, you might as well just leave the theater because nothing comes close to as engaging as that scene.
AIN’T NO ACTING HIGH ENOUGH
When push comes to shove, Elba and Winslet have several scenes of good chemistry together. What really keeps the film moving is Ben’s (Elba) quiet charm and resourcefulness and Alex’s (Winslet) persistence to get back home even with the serious injuries done to her during the crash. Right went from Ben wakes up from the accident, he makes like Morgan Freeman in ‘Shawshank Redemption’ as he gets busy living because he ain’t going to get busy dying. For a neurosurgeon, Ben is expected to be prepared for everything and for the most part he is. He’s resourceful as hell as he makes parts of the crash plane into different materials such as a fireplace and a leg brace.
THE BAD
TEMPERATURE CALLS FOR ONE DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS
Though this film is about these two strangers stuck on a mountain and eventually falling for each other, the pacing is sluggish for there are a plenty of dull moments going on through this story. Whenever scenes of peril occur, they just happen to see if the audience is awake or not. Though these two actors of high caliber give fine performances as actors, there are not many dimensions to these characters that they portray. Whenever the film decides to add depth to Alex and Ben, its always at the oddest moments. For example, when the dog is injured after a cougar attack, Ben goes ahead and stitches him up. While Ben is doing this, Alex decides to ask him about his personal life, most specifically his marriage. Moments like that happen throughout the film where the characters express emotional sides of themselves at the most bizarre moments. Even then when they argue, their arguments escalate rather quickly that it kind of devoid much character development.
SAY CHEESE
This movie is very cheesy. Sorry to say. If you like cheesy romances, this film is for you. There are beautiful landscapes to view. The only suspense of this movie is seeing if these two will end up together or not. The only time actual emotion kicks in is during the final 15 minutes of the film, and even then the movie concludes on a weak note that manipulatively makes you go,
LAST STATEMENT
'The Mountain Between Us' may have a talented duo at the helm and just like the landscapes featured they are pretty to look at, but its slow pace and lack of logistical, emotional beats makes this survival romance flick buried in the snow.
Rating: 2/5 | 46%
Super Scene: The Aftermath
