Writer: Chris Weitz, J Mills Goodloe (Screenplay) Charles Martin (Book)
Starring: Idris Elba, Kate Winslet, Beau Bridges, Dermot Mulroney, Linda Sorensen, Vincent Gale
Plot: Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow-covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness.
Tagline – What if your life depended on a stranger?
Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Strong Performances, Over Dramatic Story
Story: The Mountain Between Us starts when Ben (Elba) and Alex (Winslet) are trying desperately to get home, but a storm has put a hold on those plans with the planes delayed for the day. The two make a deal to let pilot Walter (Bridges) fly them home, but mid-flight he suffers a stroke and the plane crash lands in the snow-covered mountain range.
Ben and Alex survive the crash and must learn to work together to survive against the harsh weather conditions and nature hidden in the mountains or face certain death.
Thoughts on The Mountain Between Us
Characters – Ben Bass is a surgeon, he needs to get back to New York to perform an operation, when the crash happens, he focuses on aiming to stay at the crash site believing he will get rescued, reluctant to follow Alex’s idea to find their own way out. His skills as a doctor are key to survive this one. Alex is a photographer heading home for her wedding, she does get hurt in the crash and wants to go in search of help rather than wait. These two are professionals that make decisions based on logic over panic which is why even if they are opposite, their discussions make sense.
Performances – Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are the only ones that get any major screen time, they are both great in this film as we see them both playing to their strengths.
Story – The story here follows two strangers who are involved in a plane crash in a mountain range and must put their differences a side to survive while searching and hoping for rescue. This is a survival movie at heart with a weak romance movie on the side, we go through the normal can they survive situations, each one becoming deadlier as they go along and leaving us guessing how rather than if they will get rescued, it seems to clear to say that they won’t make it because of it only being a two person. The fact that the dog is the most interesting character doesn’t help us out here and the timing we go through just seems weak when it comes to telling us how long they have been there, we get the odd scene, but learn nothing about moments inbetween.
Action/Adventure/Romance – The action comes from the scene in which the plane crashed, it is shot well but is the only one we see. The adventure side of the film shows us just what the two must go through to survive their ordeal. The romance between them seems to just get tagged in for no particular reasons.
Settings – The film puts us in the middle of nowhere in a mountain range, it looks stunning with views from the top, the biggest problem with the setting is we just don’t get the full scale of the situation.
Scene of the Movie – The crash scene.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not explaining the time period there are lost for.
Final Thoughts – This is a standard movie with a simple story that gets everything it needs to in the film without being anything overly memorable.
Overall: Standard and safe.
Rating