La montagne entre nous

Two factors save The Mountain Between Us from romantic oblivion: Breathtaking cinematography (Mandy Walker) and two fine actors, Idris Elba as Ben and Kate Winslet as Alex. They are lost in the cold snow somewhere in the mountains of Idaho or Colorado after a small plane accident, but fortunately he's a neurosurgeon and she's a plucky photographer. Lucky about his medical skills.

If Nicholas Sparks could do lost in the snow, then he could have written this rather trite and predictable romance. Why wouldn't they fall in love with no one else around and such attractive people to boot? That they both are vulnerable becomes obvious; that they will fall in love is a given of the genre and maybe of survival itself when there's no one else around.

Lest I forget, a lovable dog also is a tie to bind. To be fair, director Hany Abu-Assad and his writers J.Mills Goodloe and Chris Weitz keep the real romance from happening through at least half the film. During that blessed time we can enjoy the spectacle and the survival techniques. Always with the thought of what we would do in those circumstances.

More outrageous than the clichéd circumstance is the fact that she needs medical help consistently where he just needs it toward the end. Why then does the old trope of the damsel in distress come to mind? Why not,in a film shameless with tear jerking.

He just lost his wife, and she doesn't seem overly joyed about her impending wedding and her husband, Mark (Dermot Mulroney). So you know what's going to happen right to the end.

I am happy to see Canada so beautifully captured on the screen. As for me, I felt captured in a melodramatic survival story from which I needed rescue.

Some films have left me speechless. Not simply because their execution was unlike anything I've seen in the past, or opened my eyes to a story so insane thinking someone came up with this idea, but speechless cause there's so little to say about it as the film doesn't ask any new or interesting questions. The Mountain Between Us is that kind of film despite having 2 very talented actors I respect in this romantic drama.

The story begins with Idris Elba as a doctor rushing to Baltimore for surgery and Kate Winslet off to get married to her fiancé and they agree to work together to get to their destinations. However, their plane crashes into the middle of the mountains and leaves them stranded with only a golden retriever and their wits to find shelter and keep one another from falling apart.

Kate and Idris both give committed performances even through the harsh weather conditions displayed. The cinematographer sets up some pretty beautiful shots of the mountains and the scale and distance the actors are from any form of civilization so that was something I appreciated in a post "every month a CGI fest blockbuster" world. Sadly the compliments end here.

What kills the film is it's SO UTTERLY PREDICTABLE. If you have seen any romantic film ever, you know what will happen. The dialogue is void of any psychological questions of dealing with a stranger alone for weeks despite the film feels like it's only 6 days tops. Not as viewer did I feel they went through harsh conditions as Kate's hair the entire time looked freshly curled.

The Mountain Between Us on the trailer felt what could have been a solid survival film, but instead got a corny and sometimes boring romantic drama. Outside of one genuine jump scare that truly surprised me, the film just feels lost in trying to be a romantic movie and survival movie at the same time with very little chemistry to weave them together.

There are films that I only watch because of the actors. Kate Winslet is always a reason for me, and Idris Elba can't do any harm either. Both of them have the ability to act very relaxed, there is never anything tense or over the top - good British acting, in other words. The story is that of a struggle for survival, but never deviates from keeping the focus on both actors. It is told in a relaxed way, has some exciting moments, but actually you ask yourself all the time whether the two get each other or not. In the end it is a romantic story with a light humour, which is mainly thanks to Winslet's laconic style. Entertaining, and very welcome in the dark times of November 2020

I quite enjoyed this, it was pretty slow paced but absorbing none the less, the main leads of Kate Winslet and Idris Elba were well matched , I had the feeling that the two of them would reunite at the end of the film and it proved to be the case.

I really enjoyed this movie. The cinematography was absolutely stunning & the two leads were well played. I bought into the story & left the cinema with a smile on my face. A girl could drown in Idris Elba's eyes!

I don't understand the terrible reviews on IMDb. The acting was not terrible, nor was the story-line. Critics seem to expect a romantic survival film to be somehow cerebral. Most movies are just regurgitated ideas, so the hate here is undeserved in my opinion. Maybe these are the same reviewers that thought La La Land deserved all those Oscars? Now there was a boring movie! Don't get me started....!

Don't believe the highbrow critics here. Grab your besties & have an enjoyable night out at the movies.