Corredeira da Morte

The streaming service Max recently came to Australia after 512 years of waiting, and I was looking through what it had. I mean, it's great if you want to watch most HBO shows, but definitely not all HBO shows (most stuff pre-Sopranos, including Oz and The Larry Sanders Show? Fuggedaboutit). If you want to watch older movies, it's pretty bad. All the ones they have are the sorts most avid film watchers will have already seen, or even own copies of.

But they had White Mile, which I'd never heard of. It turns out it's obscure because it's a TV movie, and a very average one, but the idea of a white-water rafting trip going wrong sounded intriguing, and I like Alan Alda, so I thought, what the heck.

My life has not been made any better or worse by having sat through White Mile. It is a TV movie. It's about workplace imbalances, then it's about the trip going wrong, and then it's a courtroom drama. It doesn't so anything of these things terribly, and it doesn't do any of these things particularly well. White Mile is a TV movie.

This work relates, speaking in broad terms, a narrative (based upon a true story) of a group of executives that is pressured into taking part in a whitewater raft trip, during which an unfortunate incident occurs. A subsequent lawsuit which addresses the incident completes a good portion of the film. The entire production wants nothing, as all involved perform at a high level. The scenario, by Michael Butler, is stripped neatly to its essence, and immediately engages the viewer with its combination of visceral excitement, suspense, and character development. The direction by the veteran Robert Butler is precise and enhanced by the splendidly balanced casting. Alan Alda gives his finest performance, softly creating a characterization which fascinates as it develops. Among other cast members, Peter Gallagher, Bruce Altman, and Robert Loggia offered nary a flaw in this seamless tale. The scenes immediately leading to, and including, the actual raft trip are enthralling as a test of strength between Alda's character and his companions, a test that reveals varying moral sensibilities. Editing, in a film reflecting issues of larger scope than are commonly seen, provides an important framework; here, a linear structure is created and moves smartly. The cinematography and lighting, under the aegis of Lloyd Ahern II, can be enthusiastically endorsed (with a wide range of scena) as a standard to be envied. The score by Pray For Rain, refreshingly non-DJ, implies applicable emotion neatly and nicely throughout this interesting and beautifully balanced motion picture. An obviously high level of preparation by all involved brings forth one of the finest films of the 90s.

Look, this is a silly made for TV movie. It's mildly distracting and week bring a light smile at the B-grade script and plot.

Combining the best elements of adventure, suspense, character study AND courtroom drama, "White Mile" is a smart and engrossing film, made all the more fascinating due to the fact that it's (at least partially) based on true events. Alan Alda gives an astonishing performance as Dan Cutler, a hard-assed, unsympathetic ad executive who, convinced that his underlings have lost their competitive edge in the business, bullies them (along with a couple of their clients) into going on a whitewater rafting trip. Tragedy strikes the group on their outing, and when the details of the accident look like they may be swept under the rug and dismissed, one of the men who survived (Peter Gallagher, also very fine)decides to come forth and tell the truth when Cutler and the company are sued by the wife of one of the deceased.

If you only know Alda from his days as the nice-guy Hawkeye on "M*A*S*H," he's sure to surprise you here with his intense, tightly-wound portrayal. Expertly filmed by veteran director Robert Butler, "White Mile" is riveting all the way. Excellent, atmospheric score by Pray For Rain. Not to be missed! ****stars

Alan Alda is quite effective as a callous, driven head of an advertising agency who in a quest to strengthen the bond between his employees and their clients goes overboard (sic!) with a team-building rafting trip to Chilko River in British Columbia, Canada. Despite typical 1990s TV movie production values, the film offers some intense and complex psychological drama, especially in the final third. And the strong cast give performances that become increasingly effective as the film progresses. Both Alan Alda and the film itself were nominated for Golden Globe awards in the "Made for Television" sub-category.