keram

If you like violent thriller stories based in (and limited in scope to) small-town USA, this might be a movie for you. But if you expect insights into the theory of the butterfly effect or chaos, go look elsewhere, because - contrary to its title - this film has nothing to do with these things. The plot jumps back and forth in time, exploring different pathways in the lives of the main characters, but the implied effects small events have on these lives are hugely exaggerated and completely neglect the fact that a change in the human personality is also a dynamic process that takes time and is generally influenced by a lot of factors. Instead, in order to drive the whole story, the plot is stuffed with a hefty load of cliches and stereotypes, and the same characters in the alternative scenarios are often portrayed like very different people. The result is that the presented versions of events are hardly believable, differing essentially in who kills (or otherwise harms) whom, or whose life is completely ruined, in which of them. The movie had a few interesting twists and not too bad an ending (in the director's cut), but this doesn't change the fact that I was looking at the watch every two minutes or so for most of the time, wondering whether I would have enough strength and patience to see it to its end.

I'm not sure who this movie is for. Those who have read Krakauer's book won't find anything new here (except for the scenery). Those who have not are not very likely to appreciate the almost-documentary format of the film. The director chose to present an accurate and informative account of the May 1996 events and did a really good job in that department. This being not a documentary, however, Markowitz also felt it necessary to pass a certain message with the story, in this case: "Respect the mountain, or somebody (you) will pay the price". Unfortunately, this message comes across in a somewhat forced way. For example, Scott Fischer is portrayed as a rather irresponsible yahoo (with one exception, when he carries a sick client down to the base camp), who doesn't really care much about all that safety crap. This is not an impression I got from Krakauer's "Into Thin Air". Of course, Fischer is doomed to be punished and acts indeed as if this climb were one-way for him. I find it hard to believe that a person with that kind of attitude could have established himself as a highly respected Everest guide. The point is, a mountain tragedy like the one that happened on Everest cannot be put so easily into words or pictures, nor can it be easily translated into a lesson or a moral. The behaviour and fate of climbers under such extreme circumstances go beyond simple logic and judgment. This is partly what is so dangerous but also appealing about high-altitude mountaineering in general. Too bad the director did not take advantage of all the cinematographic means at his disposal to convey some of those surreal and incomprehensible aspects of climbing, rather than concentrating on the reproduction of factual details.

After seeing this movie I can't help thinking that Oscars should also be awarded in some new categories like "How far can silliness go and still not be entertaining" or "The youngest age of viewers that will already feel embarrassed by the fact that they're wasting their time so badly", in either of which "Life without Dick" would excel. Stuffed with a high dose of thick-skinned humour guaranteed to paralyse the brains of a horse, this ambitious 4th-or-so-grade film project has a nice theme tune by Loni Rose and is shut in colour, which are its two most attractive features. Well, there is of course the sexy Sarah Jessica, but then she really puts us up to a weirdness endurance test by demonstrating and stretching to absolute limits a grotesque gap between her physical appearance and the intellectual level of the character she portrays, however funny that character was meant to be. Harry Jr reminded us of the good ol' times he was keeping himself off the silver screen and everything was just fine that way.