The Mountain Between Us is not what you think it is

WHEN you have actors the calibre of Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, you have certain expectations of what you’re about to see. It doesn’t always pan out that way.

THE thing about The Mountain Between Us is it’s not the movie you think it is.

Unless you’ve read the book from which it was adapted, the trailer would have you believe that it’s a gritty survival tale.

The combined starpower of Kate Winslet and Idris Elba also suggests that The Mountain Between Us is a rich character study of the struggles of two strangers stranded on top of a mountain range after their light plane crashes.

Having to surmount challenges like her broken leg (thank God he’s a doctor) or a cougar and the fact the now-dead pilot (Beau Bridges) never filed a flight plan, Alex (Winslet) and Ben (Elba) must brave the brutal elements if there’s any hope of making it out alive.

That is the movie, up to a point.

The first two-thirds of The Mountain Between Us is a solid, well-paced story with beautiful snowscapes driven more by character than plot, which by necessity is as thin as the air up there.

Not the movie you think it is.

Winslet and Elba are first-class actors and their performances fuel the movie — there’s something to be said about just watching two actors at the top of their game. It’s telling that 95 per cent of the film is just the two of them and the pilot’s dog, which also survived the initial crash. For the most part, they own it.

(Minor spoiler, to reassure doggo lovers nervous about the fate of the Labrador, it’s OK, the pooch makes it. Even the movie studio came out a few days ago to confirm the fact on social media lest audiences be turned off by a potential furry demise.)

Though Winslet and Elba’s presence saves the film from its worst instincts, it’s also the real problem with The Mountain Between Us.

Their talent disguises the movie for what it really is, a sentimental romance in the vein of a Nicholas Sparks story.

The doggo is safe, people. The doggo is safe.

Now imagine those roles cast instead with someone like Cara Delevingne and whoever the 2017 equivalent of Chris Klein is, C-listers whose thespian flair flits more in the one-note range. You can see the movie poster now.

Once The Mountain Between Us reveals its authentic self, such as it is, it quickly devolves into one of those movies that your aunt is excited about because her book club had read the bestseller it was based on.

The transition is ham-fisted, a fact it appears to be aware of as it quickly flashes back to scenes from mere minutes ago in case you didn’t get that the filmmakers have been trying to establish chemistry this whole time.

Saccharine and dull, the last act manages to barely drag its frigid body across the line before the atrocious final minute elicits scoffs and unintended laughter from the audience, undoing all the decent work laid out in the first hour by Winslet and Elba.

What a waste.

Rating: 2.5/5

The Mountain Between Us is in cinemas from Thursday, October 12.

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Originally published as The Mountain Between Us is not what you think it is