"The last word always belongs to the mountain."

Rating: 7/10 (28 July 2019)

This is an excellent primer for anyone considering a mountain climbing experience. It ought to convince you to stay home and wait by the fireplace with a nice snifter of brandy on hand. And the thing is, for the amateur climbers who hoped to scale Mt. Everest, a lot of the prep work was already done for them, things like those ladder bridges and all the rope climbs that had to be in place in order to get up those icy verticals. Imagine if they had to do that themselves. Well, I'm convinced it's not for me, even if the end result would be that you're sitting on top of the world.
What one does get to consider regarding the successful climbers is what a reverence and awe they place in the accomplishment. The mountain itself is extremely unforgiving of mistakes and miscalculations, and even the pros take life into their own hands with every attempt. Then there's the often unknowable element of weather conditions that play havoc virtually at the drop of a hat. For those who make this their life's work I express my sincere admiration; it takes a certain rare individual to face all those elements on any given day.
The only thing that took me out of the story were the presence of the celebrity actors who participated in the project. You know going in that Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Josh Brolin, and Jake Gyllenhaal aren't really risking life and limb for the sake of the movie. It might have been better to use less familiar faces in their roles to lend a greater pathos to the eventual fates that befell the ones who didn't make it. Still, it's a gripping story based on an actual event that occurred in 1996, and a powerful reminder that not all attempts at personal goal fulfillment will end successfully.