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| THE ONLY WAY IS UP: Jason Clarke has a mountain to climb in Everest |
WHY would anyone in their right mind risk life and limb to reach one of the loftiest points on the planet? “Because it’s there!” seems to be the common answer and despite all the hardships and soul-searching experienced in Everest, nobody seems able to come up with any better explanation.
Everest (Cert 12A; 121mins)
This is a gruelling recreation of a 1996 expedition in which individuals were tested to the limit and lives were lost. For those of us who get dizzy standing on a chair to reach a shelf, it is as close as we would want to come to actually setting foot on Everest. It is so authentic in its bone-chilling temperatures and sense of imminent death that it could convince everyone to stick with terra firma.
True events provide the basis of an often unfocused story. Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) heads to Kathmandu to meet the latest crop of clients he will lead on the adventure of a lifetime to the summit of Everest. He leaves behind his pregnant wife Jan (Keira Knightley). The motley bunch of clients include cocky Texan Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), experienced Japanese climber Yasuko (Naoko Mori) and Seattle postman Doug Hansen (John Hawkes). Jake Gyllenhaal is also on hand in what proves to be a surprisingly modest role as Scott Fischer, the leader of a rival expedition company called Mountain Madness.
The quality of the cast is almost as impressive as the sight of some of the terrain that awaits them. We never get to know the characters in any depth, which is one of the film’s failings, but we do learn a great deal about the technical challenges that lie ahead. Emily Watson’s Helen Wilton provides the lecture that lets us all know what could be in store if everything goes pear-shaped, including not having enough oxygen to breathe, hypothermia, coughing up blood, disorientation and much more. That’s before what they charmingly call the “death zone”. No wonder we are warned that “human beings aren’t built to function at the cruising altitude of a 747”.
Everest delivers on drama at the moment when a freak storm envelops the climbers and death becomes a matter of grim inevitability for some of them. There is nothing heroic in watching a life ebb away as the breathing becomes more shallow and every single breath is a small victory against oblivion. The film doesn’t sugar-coat any of this or try to convince us that it is a celebration of the human spirit’s ability to overcome any obstacle. It is a simple, basic account of the struggle for survival that is waged for the chance of another step, another day, another chance to be reunited with the ones you love.
Filmed in Nepal and the Italian Alps, Everest is a brutal, no-nonsense disaster story bolstered by a very able cast that also includes Sam Worthington and Robin Wright in another thankless female role as a wife waiting for any word on the fate of her loved one. The striking 3D images and crisp sound design all contribute to the sense of being right in the heart of this life-and-death adventure, even if it never quite delivers the thrills or reaches the emotional heights that the subject matter seemed to promise.
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| Mathew Baynton is a tomato-clad Bill with Jim Howick |
Bill (Cert PG; 94mins)
Panto season arrives early this year with Bill, a Horrible Histories version of those previously “lost” years in the life of one William Shakespeare (Mathew Baynton). Bill has run the gamut from dancer to lute player in his quest for a career in the arts but now he is heading to London, filled with impossible dreams of becoming a writer.
Along the way he becomes embroiled in a plot by the dastardly King Philip of Spain (Ben Willbond) to blow up our glorious monarch Elizabeth I (Helen McCrory). Bill is daft fun for all the family, plus there is the bonus of Damian Lewis as Sir Richard Hawkins.
VERDICT: 3/5
The D Train (Cert 15; 101mins)
Anyone who attends their school reunion wants to make good impression but Jack Black goes to extraordinary lengths in The D Train, a dark comedy that sometimes feels as awkward as the central character. Dan (Black) has appointed himself the chairman of his high school reunion committee.
Watching a suntan lotion advert, he recognises his old classmate Oliver (James Marsden) now a successful Hollywood actor. If only Oliver would attend the reunion, Dan would be the talk of the town and not the laughing stock. The D Train has a great set-up but fumbles in the second half, going for easy laughs and obvious situations.
VERDICT: 3/5
Tangerines (Cert 15; 87mins)
Given everything that is happening in the world it is hard to imagine a more timely film than the Oscar-nominated Tangerines. Set in 1992 during the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia, it unfolds in a small village where Estonian immigrant farmers Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) and Margus (Elmo Nüganen) have stayed to harvest one last tangerine crop.
When fighting breaks out in the village they give shelter to Chechen mercenary Ahmed (Giorgi Nakashidze) who appears to be the lone survivor. Later they discover wounded Georgian soldier Niko (Mikheil Meskhi) and vow to help him. The bitter feud between the two countries is now right under their own roof but prolonged confinement gradually allows these sworn enemies to find some common ground. A melancholy morality tale that beautifully illustrates the folly of conflict and blind hatred.
VERDICT: 4/5
A Girl At My Door (Cert 18; 119mins)
No good deed goes unpunished in Korean drama A Girl At My Door. Bae Doona from Cloud Atlas stars as Young-nam, the new chief of police in a small seaside town. Battling the ghosts of her past, she takes an interest in the welfare of a girl who appears to be at the mercy of her brutal stepfather. A sudden death makes Young-nam increasingly protective of the girl and sets her at odds with a community suspicious of her motives and riven with guilty secrets. An intriguing tale that twists and turns in some unexpected ways.
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| ure of slapstick comedy and sentimentality: Robert Redford and Nick Nolte in A Walk In The Woods |
The Messenger (Cert 15; 98mins)
Rising star Robert Sheehan is the best thing about The Messenger, a murky, half-hearted supernatural tale. Jack (Sheehan) has spent his life cursed with the ability to hear the voices of the dead. But this isn’t really a Sixth Sense-style puzzle as the focus is on the tortured Jack. And aside from the dynamic Sheehan, it is a lifeless, uninvolving effort.
VERDICT: 2/5
A Walk In The Woods (Cert 15; 104mins)
A Walk In The Woods offers the promise of big star names, beautiful scenery and valuable lessons learnt from the hard knocks school of life. Instead it delivers grumpy old men antics that veer perilously close to an episode of Last Of The Summer Wine.
Still the dashing leading man as he nears 80, the remarkable Robert Redford plays travel writer Bill Bryson. Back in America after a decade in England, Bryson decides to test himself by walking the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. His wife Catherine (Emma Thompson) is horrified and insists that he finds a travelling companion. The only willing candidate is disreputable old friend Katz, played by a wheezy, scarlet-faced Nick Nolte.
The two men are soon off on an adventure that confronts them with snow, bears and the physical limitations of old age. An uninspired mixture of slapstick comedy and sentimentality, A Walk In The Woods gets by on the charisma of the two stars but there are times when it feels stretched to breaking point.
VERDICT: 2/5
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