Based on the John Krakauer true life book,, INTO THIN AIR, and after over ten years in the making, comes the 1996 story, directed by Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband), about a group of climbers… some who died…while reaching the top of Mt Everest.
New Zealander, Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) leads the expedition with his guidance company, Adventure Consultants. Keira Knightley plays a bit role as his pregnant wife concerned with his return to safety before the birth of their daughter. Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) is married to Robin Wright (also in a bit part) and has two small children. And then there’s a variety of other ‘must climb’ types that include John Krakauer himself, played by Michael Kelly (House of Cards).
But unlike the all-American heroic film The Perfect Storm, where men risked lives at sea for wages, and in order to support their family, this group has no reason to ruin their families. Instead they justify why they actually have to climb the mountain. Answer: “Because it’s there.” Because it would be a crime not to. Because one guy has a flag to plant on the summit for school kids (oh, puh-leez.) Because it’s some selfish midlife crisis, is why!
And so it’s at a certain point, after forty-five minutes of guide advice on lack of oxygen, coughing up blood, ending up in the ‘death zone’ where the body begins to literally die, and Helen (Emily Watson) at the base camp giving bad weather warnings, we really don’t care about these foolish men.
Perhaps that’s because it’s co-written by William Nicholson (Gladiator) and Simon Beaufoy, who also penned 127 Hours. In that film, based on the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place, we lost any respect for an avid climber (James Franco) who refused to call his mother, and ended up stuck in a canyon, only to have to saw his own arm off. But he was in his twenties. Not married with a wife and children.
Jake Gyllenhaal has a minor role as a happy-go-lucky stoner guide from a company called Mountain Madness. We keep anticipating that his role will resurrect the film in some way, only to leave us frustrated as to why he was given such a small part.
At about an hour-plus the film gets started, and for about sixty seconds we feel their high-symphony exhilaration when [spoiler alert] they reach the top. But it’s quickly taking away from us, turning into doom and gloom, leaving us feeling the frustration of ‘I told you so’ instead of anything else, and certainly not compassion.
Questions are never answered we might want to know. Was the Jason Clarke character of Rob Hall paid a lot to risk never seeing his pregnant wife? Had he ever made it to the top of the mountain before? With previous guided tours?
While breathtakingly visual (with the crutch of Imax and 3D glasses) and supposed-to-be Nepal and the Himalayas, apparently some of the scenes were filmed in the Italian mountains where cast and crew were airlifted by helicopter into avalanche-prone terrain. The real life guides were on board to provide mountain footage and consult about safety and climbing details. Some other scenes in Nepal were filmed as high as 16,000 feet, but in the end while the actors get to the top, the film never ever reaches its peak. ♚ ♛ 1/2