The Last Descent

So let's get this out of the way: it's not a high-quality movie. So don't watch it if you're interested in skillful filmmaking. Acting not great, writing not great, etc.

What it *is* is the only available cinematic retelling of the Nutty Putty Cave tragedy. So if you're interested in that sort of thing, you probably want to watch it. It helped me get the human element in this instead of just being horrified by online diagrams of a guy stuck forever upside down in a hole.

I consider myself a mini-expert on the event after having read everything I can find on it. There are inaccuracies in this movie, important details they left out on purpose, lots of romanticizing (probably for the sake of the surviving family), a ton of sappy dream sequence filler as an artistic liberty, an inordinate focus on John's courtship with his wife, and they don't even show his death from a third-person POV and the closing off of the cave. They totally gloss over the death part and don't even show the aftermath.

In the end this feels like a B movie commissioned by his friends as a gift to his surviving family, so they can memorialize him in a touching light. And I get that, and it's very sweet.

But if you're a Nutty Putty armchair scholar, you probably wanted something with more substance and less fluff.

This movie deeply impacted me, on many levels. I'm old, but in my youth, I did things, pushed the envelope, that to others might seem crazy. After med school, after marrying, my life choices flattened out a little. I can understand why John went into the cave, the feeling of needing one more adrenalin fix. But, and I say this with love and humility, John was a damned fool. Loving beautiful wife, the girl he dreamed about. Through med school, soon to be a pediatric cardiologist. One healthy beautiful child, soon to have a second. Parents and siblings that loved him. Good health and prosperity. And instead of dropping to his knees and thanking God for his gifts, he crumpled that life into a ball and threw it away.

Its important in life to appreciate good, and not beat yourself up, because you think there should be more. Youi think you deserve great.....whatever that is. In nearly 50 years as an M. D. I've seen so much imaginary discontent, people that seemed to have it made, but managed to find something to feel bad about. Things that 99% of their family. Friends would think, "are you crazy?"

Personally I think this is why theres so much addiction in the world. The inability to find contentment. The movie was well made. The acting solid. Directing, casting etc., all great.

But, if you want to give Dr. Jones tragedy meaning, look to your own life. Examine the self destructive behaviors that put your "good" at risk. Too bad John was unable to do this.

Way too Many flashbacks. Took up a third to half the film. Film too long. Ending rubbish.

And this can't all be blamed on being a low budget film. Cccc ccc.

The movie had the potential to bring out the real horror faced by John in that hopeless situation like similar movies have done. But the unnecessary fillers and they probably toned down the incident to be more of watchable made this and avg movie. In reality it was a horrifying event I'm sure and the lady playing his wife in the movie also acted cold and emotionless, which made things even worse.

I saw this story as a clip on a tv show and did a wee bit of research online to find out the story of what happened. This film is heart wrenching and if you aren't claustrophobic before then that may change by the end of the film. I don't want to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it but it is worth watching.