149.
The Mountain Between Us
6.5/10
Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are going to be stuck up a mountain together after a plane crash. The film is based on a book, by the same name, written by Chris Martin, so the story should have some decent cliff hangers, mind the pun. The trailer has already shown us that. What it didn't show us was if there is going to be more than two main cast members and if they actually made it down. Let's hope this isn't one that should have died on impact!
The film begins inside an airport, as many flights are being cancelled and everyone is left stranded due to an incoming storm. Ben Bass, played by Elba and Alex Martin, played by Winslet are in the same queue and Alex overhears Ben talk about the fact that he needs to get home. He is a surgeon and there is a patient waiting for him to have an operation. She has a wedding the next day so is equally desperate. She has a contact, a local pilot and agree a fee to fly with him and his dog, over the mountains before the storm truly hits. During the flight, a little turbulence is noticed but nothing serious, until Walter has a stroke and the plane comes crashing down into the snowy caps. Walter doesn't survive, but the two strangers and the dog thankfully too. I'm happier about the dog to be fair. Waking up, Ben, thankfully knowing a little about first aid, tends to an unconscious Alex's wounds and sets off to evaluate their situation. He knows they must make it down with any chance of making it out alive. Alex wakes up and gives the usual, 'leave me behind', even though everyone knows she doesn't want to be and won't be left. He walks to a mountain peak and has a look, finding nothing of note and heads back to the plane. Inside the plane, Alex finds Ben's recorder and listens to something from his wife, which talks about her leaving him. Then she notices a cougar outside, which to my anguish, the dog leaves to attack and all we hear is the big cat coming out on top. The cat enters the plane, where Alex fires a flare into its face and it runs away. Ben is on his way back down and nearly falls off a cliff edge, before making it back to see the blood. With a jog on, he finds Alex and the dog alive, with injuries and follows the blood trail to find the dead cougar, which they use to have a meal. I'm really routing for this dog.
Being stranded alone for days, they find their strength in each other, to push each other along, until Alex decides that help is no longer coming and wants to make her way down the mountain. Ben doesn't agree and she leaves, with the dog, whilst he is asleep. After their heated argument, Ben wakes and follows, knowing they need each other and she too is grateful for him following her down. In the distance, she sees something flashing between the trees in a valley. They know that cannot make it down before darkness, so lay in a cave for shelter and body warmth. They make their descent the next morning and finally walk towards the flashing. Alex rests her injured leg as Ben and the dog chase a rabbit, until he comes across a cabin. In the meantime, we and Alex hear some cracking, as she is sitting upon a frozen river. She heads on in, freezing and unconscious, Ben pulls her out and takes her to the cabin, pumping her with any meds he can find and warming her up, eventually reviving her. This place has been abandoned for years, but it will do. Once Ben is out collecting more wood, Alex again listens to that recorder and the full message from his wife. This time though, she is caught in the act and Ben seems angry. She simply explains that she knows nothing about him and he never talks about his wife. This leads to a conversation about it all and the fact that his wife died two years ago from a brain tumour. Wow, that was a little bit emotional. A day later, they are still in the cabin and the time has come that they both give in to each other. A quick sex scene ends with Ben sleeping and Alex taking photos of him, being the journalist, she figures she isn't making it out alive, so takes any pictures she can. The next morning and Ben has decided that Alex's proposal of leaving her behind is their only chance. As he walks away though, he quickly runs back, knowing he can't truly leave her there and the two, again, press on for survival.
The walk takes it out of them and both are tiring fast, Alex falls asleep against a tree, maybe never able to wake again and in the distance, Ben seems a timber yard. Survival! As they make one final push, Ben gets caught on the final hurdle, as a bear trap wraps around his leg and he's stranded. Alex now knows that it is up to her. She makes it to the yard and collapses in front of a lorry, as the driver exits and runs to her aid. The scene switches to Ben's eyes and him waking in a hospital bed, finally saved, but I can see that his hands are bandaged. This guy isn't going to be a surgeon now but at least he has his life. He walks the corridor, finding Alex's room, where he husband is present, thanking Ben for all that he has done, but we can see that there is an awkwardness about all of this. Ben replies that she saved him and seemingly leaves the room heartbroken. This guy fell for her. The film gets carried through the personal side now, as Alex has a party for her arrival and there is talk with her and her husband, Mark, about the wedding they never had. He can see that something is up and knows that he may have lost her heart. In the night, Alex tries calling Ben, who is back working in the hospital, but he keeps declining her phone calls. In the end, she sends over the pictures that she took whilst they were trying to survive, with the little message that only he would understand them, after her refusal to get the published. When he finally calls her, they agree to meet up where he explains that he never spoke to her in the fear that she would have been married by now. She admits that she isn't and that she was in love with him up the mountain, but he cannot find it in himself to take her back after she left went back to her fiancé after being rescued. As they depart with a hug, the camera flicks back and fore to show their faces as they both walk away from each other. We know that one will at least turn around, it's too predictable for nothing to happen. Both turn around and give a jog towards each other, embracing with a hug, the movie ends.
This film felt like two different ones to me. The first was about survival and extreme scenarios and as soon as they got back it was a pure love story, which had built up as the whole film had progressed. If I had to compare it to one movie, it was very much like 'Castaway'. The same story of survival turning to romance once rescued. The casting was pretty decent and I'm a big fan of Elba. With Winslet, I think anyone could have played her part and she got on my tits a little bit. I couldn't imagine what that scenario would be like but if I was with a doctor, staying that way would be my best chance of survival, not walking off. I was chuffed to see that the dog survived! Always a plus point for me and Ben gave him a home too. The setting for the movie was beautiful, with panoramic shots and at times, an eerie silence, created the mood and aspects of how alone these two and the dog were. As for the bad points, there wasn't much suspense and what was there to be seen, was easily hurdled when the time came. It seemed all to convenient, almost as if they would rather move onto the romance side of the story. I could have done without the ending to the movie to be fair, thinking that the last 25 minutes could have been spent elsewhere.
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