My Review on "A Mountain Between Us" (2017)
Ok so I know it's been out a few weeks now and it hasn't been all that popular but, I enjoyed the film "A Mountain Between Us" for what it was. This is a simple story of two strangers who find themselves in a similar situation at an airport where they both miss important flights. They charter a plane, the pilot has a medical event and the plane crashes in the snowy hills leaving them to try and survive.
Let's get right into it; I am a sucker for movies that explore the human condition in its many forms. I am a lover of documentaries and movies that highlight the process of discovery through adversity and conflict. Now, AMBU is not going to blow your mind or change your perspective on anything but it would cause you to ask simple questions like, "If that were me, what would I've done?" or "Could I have survived that?", who knows it's just food for thought.
I really enjoy the work of Idris Elba. If for nothing else this brother knows how to choose roles that highlight masculinity. As a man I can appreciate this. It is important for me to see films that show men as real men. Idris always does well with this. Here he plays Neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Bass. Dr. Bass makes the acquaintance of Kate Winslet's character, Alex Martin. Alex is trying to hurry back home for her wedding the next day; they're going to the same city/state. They both need transportation and can't get a commercial flight to get them home in time so they agree to charter one from Walter, played by Beau Bridges.
They, like the film itself at times, are in trouble from the start. They take off in a Buick sized airplane to fly directly into what meteorologists call a thunder storm. I guess Walter in his infinite wisdom forgot to check the forecast and a create flight plan that people could actually survive. Nonetheless Walter decides to have a catastrophic medical event and gives us a full movie to view.
Idris and Kate have pretty fair chemistry here in a list of highly unlikely scenarios that neither character should've survived. However, the film maker wanted us to get our money's worth so they had Idris' character go all "Ninja Warrior" on us in different scenarios which saved Alex's life a whopping three times in the film. They get to know each other and through the struggles actually care for one another. The rest of it you've seen a million times...
It's cool to see great actors work with different types of material and make the best of it. The pro for AMBU is that you have two heavyweight actors doing what they do best with limited tools. The con is... you have two heavyweight actors doing what they do best with limited tools.
My take on it, go see it with your lady, have a good time and go have a commemorative slice of Jets pizza after for Walter and his plane.
AV3
