VIEWS ON FILM review of Everest

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2015)

Most movies associated with historical significance, are four star affairs or Academy Award darlings. The one I'm writing about doesn't quite reach that plateau (it has an episodic, pilot feel during the first half). Darn it though if the proceedings don't come incredibly close (with cigar firmly in reach).
So OK, let's meet the antagonist of 2015's Everest (my latest review): The mountain itself, all 29,029 feet of it. There's plenty of ice, plenty of "detachments", and a lack of oxygen. With it comes man versus nature, "David and Goliath", reach the summit or reach quietus. Now let's encounter this film's protagonist: Every freaking climber who tries to conquer Earth's highest point and gets their butt kicked. "It's not the altitude, it's the attitude" quips co-star Jake Gyllenhaal (he plays real-life, expedition group leader Scott Fischer). Well attitude can only get you so far when low atmospheric pressure and frostbite take hold. Just a walk in the park boys! Yeah right.
Echoing 1993's Alive (I don't know, I guess it's the particulars of red cheeks and sleeping in frigid, blustery weather that reminded me) and based on a true story circa 1996, Everest chronicles a dozen or so climbers bent on arriving at its grand, pointy peak. At a running time of two hours, it starts out as a slow burn. There's fascinating stuff here, a lot of educational fodder (this thing is a playbook on how to climb any apex-enhanced structure), some TV movie interludes, some film strip pauses, and plenty of brief character introductions. Yeah a few climbers make it to the top, flags are planted, hands are raised, and heavy breathing commences. It all happens relatively fast. Then they try to climb back down while a brutal snow storm approaches (in the month of May no less). That's when the film kicks into high gear. You think the journey to get up to Chomolungma was your baby. Well, you'd be dead wrong.
Now with Everest, there are muscular portrayals by all the actors. Well-known stars (Jason Clarke, Sam Worthington, Robin Wright), Oscar nominees (Gyllenhaal as mentioned earlier, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, John Hawkes), and relative unknowns (Michael Kelly, Tom Wright) contribute to its realism, its accuracy. Granted, this is the type of fluff that mountaineers will pay attention to, be glued to, really feel in their blood. I know nothing of their sideline but alas, my stomach was in my throat, I forgot to breathe, and panic set in. Oy vey!
Overall, beautiful cinematography, a considerable cast, and accurate locales (certain scenes were actually shot in Nepal's South Base Camp) make Everest a candidate for one of the year's best. A powerful, powerful movie-going experience. Rating: 3 and a half stars.