EVEREST
Cast: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Keira Knightley, Jake Gyllenhaal
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
150 mins
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
150 mins
Everest is based on the real events which took place during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, which led to the deaths of several climbers who were caught in a blizzard and died during their attempt to reach the highest point on Earth: the summit of Everest. It was a beautiful sunny morning on May 10, when Rob Hall, leader of New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants, and Scott Fischer, leader of the Seattle-based Mountain Madness, led their teams on a final ascent. The expectations for this film were high: such an epic story set in a breathtaking scenario could have worked wonders. But the flaws of the film overcome the strengths. Basically what we get here is an observation of men’s bodies being devoured by the merciless mountain through 3D glasses, but they do not accentuate in any way what could have potentially portrayed the grandeur of the mountain itself.
If Alfred Hitchcock believed that “films are real life with the boring parts cut out,” Baltasar Kormákur must be of a different opinion. The first hour serves as preparation for the drama’s tragic twist. This first act depicts part of the teams’ two-month training process: climbers becoming acclimatised to the extreme cold and the thin air at the high altitudes, and dealing with oxygen levels so low that the simple act of walking can be utterly exhausting. Yet in over 60 minutes, we learn virtually nothing about most of the characters. The only theme that resonates in the film is the metaphor represented by the challenge the climbers have set for themselves in overcoming the goal of reaching the Everest summit. All characters have a personal ambition in getting to the top, which reflects the existential balance they are seeking in their family life. Nevertheless, although we are given a bit of their self-examination, none of these introspective journeys find room for development. The action only begins to kick in when the two teams work their way up the colossal mountain and, with little warning, an unexpectedly violent storm engulfs the adventurers on the descent. If you’ve read the reports of the ‘96 events, you will know how the story ends—who survives and who doesn’t. However, death doesn’t seem to create any sorrow in audiences since the first part of the narrative failed in creating any empathy for the characters. Despite Kormákur’s intention towards shaping the adaptation into something realistic, the results are poor. Even those who lack knowledge in mountaineering will notice how the movements of the actors are highly improbable, just as the fact they talk far too much at peaks where there is a scarcity of oxygen or “o” as they lazily abbreviate it.
A decent cast seems to be a palliative treatment to fill in the missing gaps of a generally lacklustre script, written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy. It is bewildering to observe how the promotion of the film seems to lure masses into believing Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightly have leading roles when in effect they are only marginally glorified cameos. Gyllenhaal’s huge talent is totally wasted in this, as we barely see him in the role of climber Scott Fisher. Jason Clarke is possibly the only actor capable of moving us with his well-balanced embodiment of Rob Hall; especially in calibrating melodrama in a particular conversation he has with his wife Jan, interpreted by Keira Knightley, just before his descent.
Everest had the potential of being a great catastrophic blockbuster or a perturbing introspective indie flick showing the utter pointlessness of such brutal endeavours, but ended up simply being tedious in the extreme. It gravitates in a limbo of uncertainty that dissipates the opportunity of capturing the allegory of man facing the unforgiving savagery of nature.
A Walk In The Woods
Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Kristen
Schall, Mary Steenburgen and Nick Offerman
Director: Ken Kwapis
104 mins
Director: Ken Kwapis
104 mins
A senior citizen odd couple decide to embark on a trudge-athon across the Appalachian Trail with relatively predictable results in Ken Kwapis’ adaptation of Bill Bryson’s 1998 book. It may be utterly innocuous and insubstantial but “A Walk in the Woods” is still an engaging hike-shoe shuffle for weather-beaten wrinkly-countenanced veterans Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. Redford takes on the role of Bryson, a travel writer whom we see initially tackling inane questions on a television talk show. Back home with his wife Cathy (a ridiculously age-incompatible Emma Thompson), he reluctantly attends a funeral of a friend which brings into focus his own mortality. As a result, he decides to walk the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, a venture his missus first argues vehemently against and then accedes to reluctantly only if Bryson doesn’t make the attempt alone.
When all his friends tell him to bugger off, a perplexed Bryson suddenly receives an unexpected call from Stephen Katz (Nolte), an old acquaintance from Iowa with whom he hasn’t spoken in years. Sam invites himself as Bryson’s companion, and Bill reluctantly agrees. But when Katz shows up, he’s a horrendous sight – a grizzled, overweight, womanising alcoholic who stumbles around helplessly and claims to have to eat every hour or so for medical reasons. As Bryson has no other option, off they go to Georgia to begin the marathon trek. What follows is a serious of comic episodes, many of them of sitcom quality (an early encounter with Mary Ellen, a motor-mouthed egomaniac played by Kristen Schall, lots of slapstick idiocy, a stop during which would-be lothario Stephen hooks up with a chubby woman and has to flee her jealous husband through a tiny window, an unfortunate incident with a bunk bed where Katz insists on the top mattress), juxtaposed with more serious, ruminative moments in which the two men bond over old times and present crises. Along the way there are plenty of opportunities for widescreen shots of the natural surroundings, and a stream of wry observations by Bryson, delivered by Redford with a twinkle in his crinkled eye.
Put it all together and you have a flick that should appeal to more mature audiences while boring younger ones to utter distraction—appealing to a greying demographic in much the same way that lightweight fare such as “The Best/2nd Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” has. There are even the same sorts of slightly saucy moments sprinkled throughout the narrative, carefully calibrated to induce blushes and embarrassed giggles without going too far. But the key, of course, is the interplay between Redford and Nolte, two familiar if well-worn faces whose very presence cheers you up. They play well off one another, with Redford happily serving as straight man to the bedraggled Nolte, whose growling tones and ravaged chops are almost too perfect a fit with the roguish Katz. Kwapis is content to give both of them full rein, allowing the actors to go through their paces without appreciable interference from him.
It will hardly come as a shock that after their trek is over Bryson and Katz have revived their old camaraderie, or that despite protesting throughout the journey that he wasn’t undertaking the walk in order to collect material for a book, Bryson nevertheless sits down to write one. The whole thing proceeds genially step by step without ever going off in a remotely surprising direction. The stars make agreeable walking companions, but they don’t really take you anywhere particularly memorable.
