Director Hany Abu-Assad
Genre Action | Adventure | Drama
Cast Idris Elba, Kate Winslet, Dermot Mulroney, Beau Bridges
Rating PG-13
Release Date October 6th, 2017
“Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness.”
From director Hany Abu-Assad, The Mountain Between Us is a romantic drama based on the novel written by Charles Martin. The paths of two strangers come together after they are both stranded in the mountains following a plane crash, desperate to be rescued. Actor Alan Rickman passed away tragically during production of the film and it was eventually delayed a few days to allow lead actress Kate Winslet the opportunity to attend Rickman's memorial service. The cast includes Idris Elba, Kate Winslet, Beau Bridges, and Dermot Mulroney.
The Mountain Between Us boasts a talented cast and stunning scenery, but an apparent attempt to play it safe limits the film’s potential. I have yet to read the novel written by Charles Martin that the film is based on, so I went in to the theater expecting what the trailer seemed to hint at, an intense survival drama with a potential love story mixed in. All of the aspects I just mentioned are very much present and accounted for, but the word intense may have been a slight exaggeration. Viewers are treated with a glorious snow covered mountain landscape for the vast majority of the just under 2-hour runtime, and solid pacing ensures it never feels boring, but I constantly found myself itching for that edge of my seat moment where my jaw just dropped. I can't help but compare the "survival" aspect of the film to hits such as Liam Neeson's The Grey or Leonardo DiCaprio's The Revenant, although I realize the comparisons are far from fair. The tone remains relatively light in comparison to the films I just mentioned, which may be preferable for some people and not quite enough for others. The journey we are taken on in A Mountain Between Us is still emotional and gratifying in its own right, rounding out an overall satisfying experience.
The cast for The Mountain Between us is rock solid from top to bottom, with leads Idris Elba and Kate Winslet getting the vast majority of the screen time. Elba is an extremely versatile actor who can play a number of different roles and he has developed into one of my favorite actors. He seems to really shine when playing a sharp dressed businessman, but films like Beasts of No Nation have proven that he can also step into a very gritty role with ease. Kate Winslet is a great actress who will forever be known for her role alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in James Cameron's The Titanic, a fact that I'm sure she is more than okay with. Even though Winslet has played in her fair share of "stinkers" over the years, I still consider her to be a uniquely talented actress who simply needs to be given the right role. She develops great chemistry with Elba, allowing the two talented actors the ability to play off one another effortlessly. Rounding out the cast is Beau Bridges and Dermot Mulroney, both of which delivered solid performances overall.
The Mountain Between Us is a very entertaining movie, it really is, but as I touched on before it just lacks that little extra I felt like it needed in order to cross that threshold from entertaining to must-see. Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are spectacular together and they take full advantage of their opportunities, but they certainly weren’t used to their full potential. I always feel weird about reviewing a movie based on a book when I have yet to read the book myself so I may try and get to it at some point in order to get a better idea of how it matches up to the film. I can still recommend a trip to the theater for A Mountain Between Us for casual viewers, but I can also easily suggest seeing something else and holding off until it becomes available to rent.
