3.5 stars. Rated PG-13, for dramatic intensity
By Derrick Bang
Human grit and determination know
no bounds, even to the point of neglecting experienced judgment and common
sense, in pursuit of ... what, precisely? Bragging rights?
Seems a pretty thin return for
risking one’s life.
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| Granted clear skies and ideal climbing conditions, the members of two teams — from left, Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), Jon Krakauer (Michael Kelly) and Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) — begin their final assault on Everest's summit. Alas, conditions won't remain mild for long... |
Icelandic director Baltasar
Kormákur’s Everest persuasively
conveys the jovial, devil-may-care resolve and physical grit that characterize
those bent on conquering Earth’s highest and most dangerous summit. The
international cast is convincing, particularly while depicting the 24/7
adrenaline rush that fuels such folks during the weeks of preparation leading
up to an ascent.
But this isn’t action-oriented
melodrama, in the mold of (for example) Sylvester Stallone’s laughably improbable
Cliffhanger. Scripters William
Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy have based this film’s narrative on the ill-fated
1996 Everest expeditions that turned tragic with the arrival of a particularly
nasty blizzard. Allowing for modest artistic license — and with Nicholson and
Beaufoy doing their best to adapt sometimes conflicting accounts from the five
(!) books written between 1997 and 2014 — the resulting story feels both
authentic and even-handed.
But if some of this film looks familiar,
there’s good reason: We’ve been here before. The 1998 IMAX documentary of the
same title, the giant-screen format’s biggest hit to date, devoted a chunk of
its 45-minute running time to this catastrophe; indeed, Kormákur’s new film
references the presence of the IMAX production team.
More recently, documentarian
David Breashears’ Storm Over Everest
focused exclusively on this 1996 climb.
But even the most successful
documentaries never achieve the mainstream penetration of a big-budget,
Hollywood-type production, and there’s no denying that these events cried for
just such treatment. Kormákur’s heartfelt drama likely will be the final word
on this subject, and it’s a worthy historical document.
More than once, in fact, I was
reminded of British director Charles Frend’s superlative 1948 drama, Scott of the Antarctic, with John Mills
starring as the British explorer whose team tried to become the first to reach
the South Pole. Kormákur’s new film is in worthy company.
