La Montagne entre nous

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

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.

Idris Elba after scoring a mammoth hit with UK TV's "Luther" has really struggled to make a breakthrough as a leading man into A-grade movies. Although he's had some strong supporting roles ("Molly's Game" and "Star Trek Beyond" for example) and small bit parts in the Marvel universe, when he has landed a lead role they are in films best forgotton (e.g. "Bastille Day"; "The Dark Tower"). This is seldom down to his performance. Here he is given more of a chance to shine, in what is almost a two-hander with Kate Winslet ("Triple 9", "Steve Jobs") for most of the film. And he is the best thing in the film: lots of the brooding look that he is so famous for.

Elba plays Ben Bass, a neuro-surgeon stranded at Boise airport who has to get back to Baltimore for an important operation. Winslett playing Alex Martin, a famous photo-journalist, is stranded with him and equally desperate to travel as she is due to get married in New York the following day. The two club together to hire a plane from charter pilot Walter (Beau Bridges, "Homeland", "The Descendents"). But in terrible conditions, and with a medical emergency, the plane crash lands in the snow of the Rockies, and Ben and Alex (together with Walter's Labrador) need to struggle to survive in the wilderness. The problem is that they are an odd couple, and constantly wind each other up the wrong way.

It's a well-worn tale that has been portrayed many times before in films like "Alive" and "The Grey", so what makes the film live or die is the quality of the screenplay and the chemistry between the characters. Unfortunately the former by Chris Weitz (co-writer on "Rogue One") is rather clunky, and in the latter case I just didn't feel it. Winslett's character is just so incredibly whiney and annoying that the thought of Ben doing anything with her other than hitting her with the shovel and feeding her to the dog seems unlikely! Winslett seems to sense that too, since I never felt she was completely invested in her character. Aside from one (impressive) monologue, I found it to be a so-so performance from her.

Aside from Elba the other star of the show is the landscape of the High Uintascape in North East Utah of the which is beautifully filmed, on location by Mandy Walker ("Hidden Figures").

The story leaps from improbability to improbability and raises more questions than it answers: in a survival situation should you walk or stay put? If you have a dog, should you eat it* and what condiments are appropriate? Does an iced-over river have any current flowing under the ice? If they both died, would the audience care?

No spoilers with answers to any of these (*apart from the dog... just joking, they don't!) , but the ending is as corny as you can get... but it still gave me a lump in my throat. #suckered!

Directed by Hany Abu-Assad, overall if you have a rainy afternoon you need to fill then this a perfectly pleasant movie to veg in front of, but it neither completely satisfies as a romance nor as an adventure flick but falls rather uncomfortably between the two stools.

A classic boy (Idris Elba) meets girl (Kate Winslet) story, only this time it begins with the plane crashing into mountains, and they have to make their way down without, you know, freezing or starving to death.

I haven't read the original novel by Charles Martin, but the movie starts as simple but inventive mix of classic story types such as boy meets girl and survival, with even some light but good verbal humor thrown in.

The makers don't want to expose the general direction early on, so for most of the time we concentrate on survivors overcoming the harsh conditions.

Sadly, there's not much variety to sloshing in the snow and shivering near the campfires, so it gives one time to begin to notice how the storytelling tends to stay on the lazy / shallow side.

For example, some of the basic points of survival stories are not adequately explained - how the duo always have strength to find and carry food, or how they manage to keep the dog alive and healthy who survived the crash too.

The dog just disappears and is re-insertedwhere convenient. There's even scene which hints they had to climb down a steep cliff but never have equipment to take the animal with them. Or even take care of themselves, for the matter.

Anyway, all these niggles don't quite break the suspense but don't exactly help to uphold it either.

And it wouldn't be a problem at all if the story would not be so mainstream (the two's backgrounds and relationships would benefit from some depth)

The makers even go as far as adding some true Hollywood style flashbacks which don't fit at all. Not to mention that these lay bare the general direction that they story has tried to hide the whole time.

Luckily, it's mostly about Elba and Winslet who don't disappoint, giving solid if workmanlike performances to bring the material alive.

They quietly and confidently carry the experience, so if you are OK paying to see two top thespians doing their thang, then "The Mountain Between Us" is good enough watch.

There's almost no other human characters - the only notable supporting roles are by Beau Bridges and Dermot Mulroney.

All in all, "Mountain" is watchable but too professional rather than passionate project from all involved, thus not eliciting true commitment from the viewer either.

There are moments of authenticity, and moments that might make you care for a moment... but there's not enough to make it stick in memory.

I'd like to finally see a movie that's entirely worth Elba's talent and charisma, as HBO's unforgettable "The Wired" managed in TV world more than 10 years ago already.

Forget the movie and read the book. They took everything great about the book, changed it and in the process lessened the story in almost every way. It feels like they are in such a hurry to get to the action that they gloss over the beginning. Then they proceed to take every character and give them baggage instead of just letting them be good people. Sad.