Review: Everest (3D)

Following true events of two teams of mountaineers making the climb up to the peak only for events to go terribly wrong, Everest is a great visual and emotional spectacle.

Since the first few teams conquered the life-or-death climb to the peak of Everest, modern climbers have established tours to train up adventurous spirits so they too can experience the thrill. But when several teams are jockeying for the safest time to climb, the time between fierce storms striking the mountain narrows too far, and the teams risk getting caught in the maelstrom.

First of all it has to be said that this film, directed by Baltasar Kormakur (director of such action thrillers as 2 Guns and Contraband) has a powerful cast at its behest: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kiera Knightley and Emily Watson, even the secondary characters deliver excellent work throughout.
And for Everest's advantage, the first half of the film is dedicated to establishing as many of these people's character as possible, their lives and their reasons for going on the adventure. Jason Clarke is centre stage as Rob; the expedition leader for his company "Adventure Consultants", Jake Gyllenhaal is a competitive team leader, and Josh Brolin is a man determined to climb the mountain. There are many characters in need of backstory, some with more to lose than others.
Yes, while this is a true story of course (and criticising it feels undesirable) there are the typical foreshadowing points as: He has a baby on the way and he's excited to come home or; he's tried many times to climb the mountain and has everything to prove. But while cynics will see this as a disadvantage, I felt the film was honest enough to be still thrilling. Perhaps even more backstory for other characters would have blurred the foreshadowing even further.

Visually Everest is stunning. I watched it on a regular 3D cinema screen but I can imagine an IMAX 3D showing would have been extraordinary. There are several shots early on that deliberately show off the dizzying heights involved with the characters' journey; watching people walk over extraordinarily high bridges, or traversing rickety makeshift walkways over icy chasms. These moments alone are worthy of admission. The sense of cold and horrendous freezing temperatures become unbearable towards the end, some moments feeling morbidly graphic and brutally real. 

There isn't much else to say about Everest. It is a straight-forward experience: men climb icy mountain and struggle to find their way down again. But I often say less is more, and the film enjoys setting up its characters, at least the ones that are deemed important enough (Sam Worthington's character Guy arrives too little too late) the rest of them do tend to blur into one another when the storm hits and identifying them becomes a struggle.

It is a visual spectacle with a decent human story behind it. I enjoyed it on the big screen (and in 3D!), though I'm unsure if I need to watch it again.

    
Additional Marshmallows: I was entertained to discover that Josh Brolin's character Beck's wife Peach was played by Robin Wright. I recognised her, but I didn't realise I recognised her from the 1987 classic The Princess Bride! 

Review: Punch-Drunk Love

I have no idea how to summerise this film, what a bizarre yet strangely poignant romantic comedy with a seriously strange twist.

We follow Adam Sandler's character who can only be described as "psychologically disturbed", as he runs a small business and tries to break free of insecurities thrown on him by his seven sisters. He is a bizarre, unorthodox man in unorthodox surroundings, who finds himself blackmailed by a sex hotline he once called and the mattress store manager who runs it. Can true love with Lena (Emily Watson) allow him to recover his own self esteem and respect?

I knew next to nothing about the film going in, and I have to say it was nothing that I expected it to be! Frankly I was just looking for a good Adam Sandler performance, and I found more than that. It is like watching a different actor! In a very different film!

I will admit though, within the first thirty minutes I was pretty lost. There was a miniature piano, a weirdly aggressive sister, Barry himself is unlikable and odd, he buys loads of pudding in a deal to get air miles he never uses... I was in a bizarro nexus of oddities. However, sticking with it I realised this was an American film doing what European films usually do in the genre; this isn't far off what Jean-Pierre Jeunet might direct. Maybe not quite as quirky, but certainly unique!
It is a strange film and no mistake, but is surely worth a watch! Emily Watson and Phillip Seymour Hoffman give great supporting roles, and Sandler is downplaying his usual talents to an acceptable level, and it works wonders. The final act of the film is surely its best; everything culminating to a final, gratifying pay off.

Sure, there are some issues I had with it, it did take a bit of getting used to at first, and Lena's persistence to have a relationship with such a bizarre man felt a little odd, especially given how level headed she was herself. But there were signature moments, clever payoffs and as it continued I found myself more and more interested in it.

Weird, but very unique, highly recommended I'd say!

Additional Marshmallows: For all the praise the director, Paul Thomas Anderson, gets, I didn't like There Will Be Blood, I thought it was tedious. Punch-Drunk Love is probably the first of his films that I actually got and enjoyed!