The Mountain Between Us
3 stars
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Stars: Idris Elba, Kate Winslet, Beau Bridges
Duration: 112 mins
Class: 12
KRS Releasing Ltd

Things don’t quite go according to plan when Alex (Kate Winslet) and Ben (Idris Elba), stranded at an Idaho airport when their respective flights are cancelled due to an imminent storm, agree to charter a two-seater Piper plane between them to get to their destinations – she to her wedding in New York, he to an urgent surgery in Baltimore where he is scheduled to operate on a young boy.

Although the tiny plane misses the storm, the plane’s pilot suffers a stroke and the plane crashes in the Uinta Mountains in Utah.  The pilot dies and the two passengers suffer minor injuries, although Alex has battered her leg pretty badly.

With no sign of rescue, they must decide what to do. Ben  thinks that caution dictates they stay put until they are found; she disagrees. But it is soon clear they need to negotiate the elements and the forbidding mountainous terrain if they are to have any chance of survival.

As the hours turn into days, Alex and Ben’s contrasting personalities lead to some heated arguments – yet also inevitably draws them close together.

The Mountain between Us is one of those dramas that works mostly on the strength of its protagonists. With two actors of lesser calibre, I suspect this would have come across as little more than a TV movie of the week with a big budget.

For there is undeniable chemistry between Winslet and Elba (and let’s not forget the pilot’s dog, who survives the crash and offers great companionship to the two humans). Both actors commit fully to their roles, even if the material is rather run-of-the-mill. They have to contend with thinly sketched characters.

Works mostly on the strength of its protagonists

Alex is a driven, committed, hard-core war journalist while Ben is a taciturn and cerebral brain surgeon who is clearly harbouring a secret – although, it must be said, the secret he is hiding is obvious from the outset, from the moment Alex starts asking him questions about his private life, undeterred by his obvious desire not to talk about it.

Although very little character background is provided, both Winslet and Elba provide depth and complexity. They add much-needed dramatic heft to the characters, making them three-dimensional and, crucially, easy for the audience to root for them. The script by Chris Weitz and J. Mills Goodloe, based upon the book by Charles Martin, offers little tension save for the few minutes of nail-biting anxiety that come about with the efficient and breath-taking execution of the plane crash.

Otherwise, despite the precarious situation the duo find themselves in and the various obstacles in their path as they journey towards survival – including a very close encounter with a cougar, walking on thin ice, the threat of raging river rapids and close shaves by the edge of a cliff – it is clear from the way events unfold that this is less a tale of survival than a solid romantic drama.

The story quickly shifts its focus towards the developing romance rather than the risk of imminent death the couple are facing given there seems to be little chance of rescue. And we never get to see what reaction there is from loved ones and colleagues to their disappearance.

So, it is really no surprise when the sniping between the couple gives way to something more intimate, which in turn leads to an ending which will come as a surprise to absolutely no one.

But for all its predictability, The Mountain Between Us offers more than the pleasure of seeing the two leads at the top of their game. The amazing scenery is especially remarkable. Israeli director Hany Abu-Assad offers the viewer a picture-perfect mountainous landscape of dazzlingly white snow enveloping the landscape against an impossibly blue background. It is so beautiful that it is partly responsible for the lack of any sense of danger.

Also showing

The Snowman: When Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender), an elite crime squad’s lead detective, investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of brilliant recruit Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.

Also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Val Kilmer and J.K. Simmons, The Snowman is written by Hossein Amini and Peter Straughan, based on the bestselling thriller The Snowman by  Norwegian crime author Jo Nesbø. The film is directed by Tomas Alfredson.

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