Treize vies

I saw The film at a preview screening with cast today. I implore you, if you can see this movie at a theater, please do so. The experience isn't the same. Really phenomenal film. It's from the perspective of the rescue mission, so be prepared about that. It was so intense and stressful to watch! You know the story but actually watching what happened is much worse. It's really heartbreaking at times. I thought I would cry more but I burst into tears at the end. I think they were tears of relief honestly. Lol I had been holding in so much stress. Everyone in the film did a phenomenal job and the character Viggo played, Rick, was at our screening. So much respect for This man and all the others who stayed calm under pressure! I only took a point away because the movie gets started practically right away And I would have liked a little more connection to the boys first. Maybe that was the point though.

This was better than expected. Could have gone sideways in so many fashions but resists at every turn to become soapish or maudlin or fall into action flick tropes but it does not. In Ron Howard's able hands this amazing true story comes alive with intrigue and emotion. And clocking in at 2 1/2 hours, for me it did not feel overlong or slow.

Despite the fact the we all know how things are going to turn out, Ron Howard pulls off the same trick he managed in Apollo 13, which is to keep us on the edge of our seats throughout.

The film is very deliberately shot from the point of view of the outside world. We learn very little about the boys, and none is introduced to us as an individual. Indeed, they vanish from the screen from the moment they enter the caves to the moment the first divers make contact - just as they vanished in real life. I was irked by this approach at first - the boys being reduced to mere ciphers, but then it dawned on me that that's what they were to the news-feeds of the time: twelve unknown boys (plus their coach) trapped in cave in a country a long way away.

The performances are excellent throughout, the direction first-class, and the sense of claustrophobia almost overwhelming at times. I admit to wondering whether there would be a side-swipe at Elon Musk for being a publicity-seeking nuisance, but there wasn't. This was probably the right decision.

Any time I turn on the news, I can hear about humanity at its worst. It's nice to hear the odd story about humanity at its best.

Now in 2022 it seems such a short time ago, in June 2018, when news around the world announced that twelve young boys and their soccer coach were trapped in a Thailand cave, trapped by excess rain and rising water. The trip to them was over a mile and took several hours by experienced divers.

This is Ron Howard's movie about that event and eventual rescue in July, using a technique that had never been tried. So great was the fear of killing the boys the government provided diplomatic immunity to several rescuers in case all or most of the boys died. But they viewed it as their only option, soon the monsoon season would arrive and eliminate all chances of rescuing them alive.

It is a really good movie, a bit long at 2 1/2 hours, but my wife and I enjoyed it, at home streaming on Amazon Prime.

One thing is certain, Ron Howard certainly knows how to make this kind of film, and this is his best in a while and maybe his best ever. Brilliantly made and well paced, capturing all if the emotion and tension of an incredible rescue and international effort. I have previously watched the (also) excellent Nat Geo documentary and this film mirrors that well and adds no typical Hollywood drama to it at all. Truly excellent viewing.