Now You See Me

 

Now You See Me 2004

• Director: Louis Leterrier
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Mélanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jesse Eisenberg – Zombieland 1&2, Social Network, Night Moves, The Squid and the Whale
• Mark Ruffalo – Avengers, Shutter Island, The Kids Are All Right, Reservation Road, Zociac, Rumour Has It, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Woody Harrelson - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, The Glass Castle, The Hunger Games x 4, 2012, Battle in Seattle, No Country for Old Men, Zombieland, A Scanner Darkly, A Prairie Home Companion, North Country, EdTV, The Thin Red Line, White Men Can’t Jump
• Isla Fisher – The Great Gatsby
• Mélanie Laurent – Inglourious Basterds, Indigènes
• Morgan Freeman - Transcendence, London Has Fallen, Oblivion, The Dark Knight Rises, Invictus, The Dark Knight, Now You See Me, Wanted, Gong Baby Gone, Batman Begins, Million Dollar Baby, Bruce the Almighty, Levity, Nurse Betty, Amistad, Moll Flanders, Seven, The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood, Driving Miss Daisy, and others
• Michael Caine – Tenet, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Harry Brown, Flawless, Miss Congeniality, The Prestige, Children of Men, The Weatherman, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Educating Rita, Sleuth (both versions), Alfie
• Why? The cast. 
• Seen: 23 April 2023      

       Four street magicians are mysteriously summoned and lifted to fame in Las Vegas from where they rob a bank in Paris by magic. Only FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) doesn’t believe it and is out to get them. Caine, Freeman, Harrelson add their own kind of magic to this caper of a film. Silly but fun. 

3* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les Visiteurs 2

 

Les visiteurs 2 1998

• Director: Jean-Marie Poiré
• Based on book: No
• Cast: Jean Reno, Christian Clavier, Valérie Lamercier
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jean Reno – Léon, La Femme Nikita, Le grand bleu 
• Why? Might as well, I saw the first one.
• Seen: 22 April 2023      

       The first one was silly, and I didn’t like it. Maybe, now that I know what to expect, I’ll be more tolertant.

       Nope. Possibly even more irritating than the first one. Fast forward…      

½ * of 5  

 

 

Unforgiven

 

Unforgiven 1992

• Director: Clint Eastwood
• Seen by this director: Sully, Jersey Boys, Invictus, Changeling, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Blook Work, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Bridges of Madison County, A Perfect World, Bird
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Frances Fisher
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby, Blood Work, Bridges of Madison County, A Perfect World
• Gene Hackman – The Royal Tenenbaums, The Birdcage, Get Shorty, Class Action, Postcards from the Edge, Mississippi Is Burning, Reds, Superman etc, The Conversation, The Poseidon Adventure, The French Connection, Bonnie and Clyde, Hawaii
• Morgan Freeman - Transcendence, London Has Fallen, Oblivion, The Dark Knight Rises, Invictus, The Dark Knight, Wanted, Gong Baby Gone, Batman Begins, Million Dollar Baby, Bruce the Almighty, Levity, Nurse Betty, Amistad, Moll Flanders, Seven, The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood, Driving Miss Daisy, and others
• Richard Harris – Harry Potter, Gladiator, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Camelot, Hawaii
• Frances Fisher – Woman in Gold, The Lincoln Lawyer, Jolene, The House of Sand and Fog, Titanic
• Why? Best film and all that 
• Seen: 21 April 2023       

       A Western but I’ll try to keep an open mind. It’s won many awards, after all. I could be wrong.

       Nope. I’m absolutely right. It’s boring, long-winded, pretentious, definitely over-hyped and just barely watchable. To be honest, I fast-forwarded most of it. I like Freeman and Harris so it gets 

1* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Seven

 

The Last Seven 2011

• Director: Imran Naqvi and Simon Phillips
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Tamer Hassan, Simon Phillips, Daisy Head, Sebastian Street, Rita Ramnani, John Mawson, Ronan Vibert
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tamer Hassan – Robot Overlords, Batman Begins
• Ronan Vibert – The Snowman, The Pianist
• Why? London. 
• Seen: 20 April 2023      

       Seven amnesiac people wander around an otherwise peopleless London with only flashbacks of violent memories giving them clues as to what might have happened.

       It’s slow, almost minimalistic, almost hypnotic. If you want it to make sense, you’ll be disappointed, although it does, sort of. I find it intriguing. 

3 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring

 

Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring 1971

• Director: Joseph Sargent
• Seen by this director: Warm Springs, Out of the Ashes, episodes in many TV series
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Sally Field, Eleanor Parker, Lane Bradbury, David Carradine, Jackie Cooper
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sally Field – Forrest Gump, Steel Magnolia, Punchline, Norma Rae, The Flying Nun
• Eleanor Parker – The Sound of Music
• Lane Bradbury – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, many TV series
• David Carradine – Kill Bill 1&2, Bound for Glory, many TV series
• Jackie Cooper – Superman etc, many TV series
• Why? Possibly interesting. 
• Seen: 19 April 2023      

       After a year of living the free hippie life, Denise (Fields) returns to her suburban family – wealthy, uptight, hypocritical parents (Parker and Cooper) and rebellious druggie sister (Bradbury). Her parents profess to be delighted and relieved to have her home, but their disapproval is soon obvious, and their verbal abuse of their daughters brings back memories of how they’ve always been.

       It’s never clear why she came back to the painful hollowness of suburban American life and shallow uncaring parents but’s a strong portrayal of that aspect of the 70s. 

3 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chronicles of Riddick

 

The Riddick Chronicles 2004

• Director: David Twohy
• Seen by this director: Pitch Black
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Vin Diesel, Judi Dench, Colm Feore, Thandiwe Newton, Linus Roach, Keith David
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Van Diesel – Pitch Black
• Judi Dench - All Is True, Murder on the Orient Express, Victoria & Abdul, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Hollow Crown, Bond etc, Hotel Marigold 1&2, Philomena, Vicious, My Week with Marilyn, Jane Eyre, Cranford, Nine, Notes on a Scandal, Mrs Henderson Presents, As Time Goes By, Ladies in Lavender, The Shipping News, Chocolat, Tea with Mussolini, Shakespeare in Love, Mrs Brown, Hamlet, Henry V, A Handful of Dust, 84 Charing Cross Road, A Room with a View, Macbeth
• Thandiwe Newton – Thor, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Crash, Beloved, Gridlock’d
• Linus Roach – Yonkers Joe, The Namesake, Batman Begins, Beyond Borders, Seaforth
• Keith David – Pitch Black
• Why? Judi Dench 
• Seen: 18 April 2023      

       Five years after the first film Riddick (Diesel) is still a wise-ass macho know-it-all, a violent, lone being hunted by…whoever. Dench is some kind of wispy envoy who comes and goes and tries to engage Riddick in the battle against…something.

       I can’t be bothered with the story but it’s all very dramatic with a cute kid who touches Riddick’s stony heart etc. There’s more than enough action to send me straight to sleep.

       Oh, all this dreary religion and macho posturing! Oh, what a boringly beautiful vampy queen in a form-hugging golden gown.

       The beautiful visuals, the slight Shakespeare plagiarism and Judi Dench only help a very little. 

½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pitch Black Reddick 1

 

Pitch Black - Riddick 1 (2000)

• Director: David Twohy
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Vin Diesel, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black, Rhianna Griffith
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Rhianna Mitchell – London Has Fallen, Finding Neverland
• Cole Hauser – Transcendence, White Oleander, Good Will Hunting
• Keith David - something, no doubt
• Why? Sci fi and Judi Dench (not in this one). 
• Seen: 17 April 2023

        Merchant spaceship crash lands on a planet that might be dead. One of the passengers is a dangerous criminal, Riddick (Diesel). He escapes and becomes a danger to them all, or not. There are greater dangers and only he can save them.

       Three objections. Why are the men fully clothed but the two women are wearing close-fitting low-cup tops? And why the religion? Really? In the year 3000 or whatever it is they have space travel to far-off galaxies and people still believe in Abrahamic gods? Riddick’s macho know-it-all badassness is irritating and nobody is especially likeable.

       However, the premise has merit, it’s suspenseful and is quite beautiful to look at. 

2 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bandit Queen

 

Bandit Queen 1994

• Director: Shekhar Kapur
• Seen by this director: Elizabeth the Golden Age, Elizabeth
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey,
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Neither of them
• Why? An interesting film.  
• Seen: Once before. Now 15 April 2023      

       From the age of 11 when Phoolan Devi is married off to an abusive husband she rebels against the degradation, caste oppression and rape at the hands of men. Again and again, she rises and fights back until she becomes the leader of her own band of mountain bandits.

       True story. She becomes as famous in India as Robin Hood is in England. And as hunted by the police.

       The film is grim, violent, and controversial in India. 

4* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elvis

Elvis 2022

• Director: Baz Luhrman
• Seen by this director: The Great Gatsby, Australia, Moulin Rouge, Romeo & Julia, Strictly Ballroom
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tom Hanks – The Circle, Sully, Cloud Atlas, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Cast Away, Catch Me If You Can, Road to Perdition, The Green Mile, You Have Mail, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Punchline
• Austin Butler – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Richard Roxburgh – Hacksaw Bridge, Moulin Rouge
• Why? Elvis
• Seen: 14 April 2023      

       If you’ve spent any time on Planet Earth, you know who Elvis is. If you grew up anytime after the 50s in the Western Hemisphere, especially the northern half you know the story.

       The film goes deeper.

       Col Parker (Hanks) narrates the story and takes all the credit for bringing Elvis to the world and none of the blame for his early death.

       I’m one of those who say that Elvis was brilliant until he joined the army and was ruined by all those dreadful films, but he never stopped being fascinating. This film does a brilliant snow job (Parker’s own words) telling the story.

       It’s Baz Luhrman. See it. It’s flawed, yes, but see it. 

4 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Disturbia

 

Disturbia 2007

• Director: D J Caruso
• Seen by this director: I Am Number Four
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Shia LaBeouf, David Morse, Carrie-Anne Moss, Sarah Roemer, Aaron Yoo, Viola Davis
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

o   Shia LaBeouf – The Peanut Butter Falcon, Bobby, Constantine, I Robot

o   David Morse – World War Z, 16 Blocks, Dancer in the Dark, Long Kiss Good-Night, The 12 Monkeys, The Indian Runner

o   Carrie-Ann Moss – Humans, Matrix etc, Snowcake, The Chumscrubber, Chocolat, The Red Planet

o   Viola Davis – Widows, Fences, Suicide Squad, Get on Up, Ender’s Game, Prisoners, Beautiful Creatures, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Solaris, Antwone Fisher, Far from Heaven, Kate & Leopold 

·       Why? Possibly Interesting

• Seen: 13 April 2023      

       For some reason I thought this was a non-English language sci fi film. It’s not. It’s an American remake of Rear Window and not a very good one.

       Kale (LaBeouf) is in house arrest for hitting his teacher. Poor kid lost his father in a car crash the previous year. He starts spying on the neighbours and suspects one of them of being a mass murderer.

       What it is, is a juvenile sort of comedy about a couple of horny sexist boys and a cute saucy flirty girl doing stupid things to reveal the icky neighbour. I so wish it had been a non-English language sci film but since it was a bit exciting towards the end 

2* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008

• Director: David Fincher
• Seen by this director: Gone Girl, The Social Network, Zodiac, The Fight Club, Seven, Alien 3
• Based on a story by: F Scott Fitzgerald
• Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julie Ormand, Jason Flemyng, Taraji P Henson, Mahershala Ali
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

o   Brad Pitt – Ad Astra, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 12 Years a Slave, World War Z, The Tree of Life, Inglourious Basterds, Burn After Reading, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Babel, Fight Club, Meet Joe Black, The Twelve Monkeys, True Romance, Thelma and Louse, Johnny Suede, Too Young to Die, The Dark Side of the Sun

o   Cate Blanchett – The House with Clocks in Its Walls, Cinderella, The Hobbit, Hanna, Robin Hood, Elizabeth 1&2, Hot Fuzz, Notes on a Scandal, Babel, Little Fish, The Aviator, Lord of the Rings, Coffee & Cigarettes, The Shipping News, The Gift, The Man Who Cried

o   Tilda Swinton – The Personal History of David Copperfield, Doctor Strange, Hail Caesar, Snowpiercer, Only Lovers Left Alive, Moonrise Kingdom, Burn After Reading, Broken Flowers, Constantine, Thumbsucker, Orlando

o   Julie Ormand – My Week with Marilyn, Smilla’s Sense of Snow

o   Jason Flemyng – Sunshine on Leith, I Give It a Year, X-Men First Class, Hanna, Primeval, From Hell

o   Taraji P Henson – Hidden Figures

o   Mahershala Ali – Alita Battle Angel, Green Book, Hidden Figures, The Hunger Games Mockingjay 1&2

·       Why? I remember it as interesting.  

• Seen: Once before. Now 12 April 2023      

       The curious case being that Benjamin is born at the end of WWI into an 80-year-old baby body. He is adopted by a black couple (Henson and Ali) who work in an old people’s home. Instead of dying, he gets younger. And younger. He meets little Daisy and likes her. They continue to meet as he gets younger and she gets older.  They carry on with their lives and of course they become lovers eventually.

       Unfortunately, it’s not as interesting as I remember it. A bit gimmicky, really.

      

2 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miami Vice

 

Miami Vice 2006

• Director: Michael Mann
• Seen by this director: Public Enemies, Heat, The Last of the Mohicans
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Lee, Naomi Harris, with short appearance by Ciarán Hinds, Eddie Marsan and John Hawkes
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Colin Farrell– The Gentlemen, Widows, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Winters Tale, Total Recall, Fright Night, The Imagination of Doctor Parnassus, In Bruges, Intermission
• Jamie Foxx – Django Unchained, The Soloist, Dreamgirls, Ray
• Naomi Harris – Spectre, Mandela, Skyfall, Small Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tristram Shandy, Dinotopia, 28 Days Later, White Teeth
• Why? Colin Farrell
• Seen: 11 April 2023      

       The original TV series was never a favourite of mine, but I did watch it. I wouldn’t have bothered with the film, but I like Colin Farrell. Doesn’t everybody?

       It starts out underwhelming. Drugs, prostitution, pimps, undercover cops, violence, same old same old.

       Can a great cast save this?

       Nope. Not even remotely interesting but for the OK love angles. Which only raise it, with Colin Farrell’s mere presence, from 0* to 

2* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whistleblower

 

The Whistleblower 2010

• Director:  Larysa Kondraki
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, Nikolaj Lie Kass, with small roles by Benedict Cumberbatch and Liam Cunningham
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Rachel Weisz – The Favourite, The Deep Blue Sea, The Fountain, The Constant Gardener, Constantine, About a Boy, Sunshine
• Vanessa Redgrave – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, The Thirteenth Tale, The Butler, A Song for Marion, Atonement, The Pledge, Girl Interrupted, Cradle Will Rock, Lulu on the Bridge, Mrs Dalloway, Wilde, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Down Came a Blackbird, Howards End, The Ballad of Sad Café, Prick Up Your Ears, Playing for Time, The Devils, Oh What a Lovely War, Isadora, Camelot, Blow-Up
• David Strathairn – Nomadland, UFO, American Pastoral, Hotel Marigold, The Tempest, Good Night and Good Luck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A League of Their Own, Silkwood
• Why? Possibly interesting.
• Seen: 9 January 2022      

       Nebraska cop (real person) Kathryn Bolcovac (Weisz) accepts a UN peace-keeping mission in post-war Bosnia. She soon uncovers a trafficking ring/organised crime organisation kidnapping young girls from Eastern Europe and forcing them into prostitution in Bosnia. The deeper Bolcovac investigates, the more horror she uncovers. Men from the girls’ own families right up to the head of the UN unit in Bosnia are involved through the management of a security company on contract with the US State Department.

       When she takes it up with her employers, she’s fired and those responsible launch a huge cover-up.

       True story. You probably remember hearing about it in the media. I do.

       The patriarchy and profit murder women. The film is fictionalised but the reality is out there. Why is everyone not enraged? 

5* of 5.

 

 

 

Promising Young Woman

 

Promising Young Woman 2020

• Director: Emerald Fennel
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Carey Mulligan – Suffragette, Far from the Madding Crowd, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Great Gatsby, Never Let Me Go, Public Enemies, An Education, Doctor Who
• Clancy Brown – Hail Caesar, probably other films
• Jennifer Coolidge – something, I’m sure
• Why? Rave reviews
• Seen: 7 April 2023      

       Cassie (Mulligan) is thirty years old and still living with her parents, a medical school dropout working in a coffee shop. She goes out every weekend dressed in sexy clothes, pretends to be too drunk to stay awake, lets herself be helped by nice guys who take her home and when they think she’s comatose and start to have sex with her she snaps to and confronts them. Then tallies them in a little notebook.

       An old classmate from med school Ryan (Burnham) happens into the coffee shop. They become friends again and she seems to be getting over her troubled past, her bitterness and need for revenge.

       It’s creepy, suspenseful, well-acted and it carries a very obvious, angry and necessary message.

       And what an ending.

       It’s Mulligan’s best film since Never Let Me Go. Do not miss this one. 

5* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source Code

 

Source Code 2011

• Director: Duncan Jones
• Seen by this director: Moon
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Everest, Life, Prisoners, Rendition, Zodiac, Brokeback Mountain, Day After Tomorrow, The Good Girl, Donnie Darko
• Michelle Monaghan – Gong Baby Gone, North Country
• Vera Farmiga – Skin, The Conjuring, Up in the Air, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Breaking and Entering
• Jeffrey Wright – The Hunger Games, Only Lovers Left Alive, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Cadillac Record, Quantum of Solace, Broken Flowers, Angels in America, Hamlet
• Why? The cast.
• Seen: 6 April 2023      

       Wait, wait, wait, have I seen this?! I recognise the opening scene so much. Jake Gyllenhaal wakes up on a train across from a very friendly woman (Monaghan) who chats away with him as though they’re good friends, calls him Sean which isn’t his name and then there’s an enormous explosion and he wakes up and is being debriefed by an army captain (Farmiga) and then he’s sent back to find the bomber and then…

       I don’t remember what happens.

       It’s quite good. How could I possibly not remember it? Could I have only seen the beginning and then missed the rest for some reason?

       It’s worth seeing. Now I’ll remember it. 

3 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everest

 

Everest 2015

• Director: Baltasar Kormákur
• Seen by this director: Adrift
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Emily Watson, Keira Knightly, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal and quite a lot of others in small roles
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jason Clarke – First Man, The Great Gatsby, Trust, Public Enemies, Rabbit-Proof Fence
• John Hawkes – The Peanut Butter Falcon, Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri, Contagion, Lost, Winter’s Bone, The Miracle at St Ana, A Slipping Down Life
• Emily Watson – Genius, Testament of Youth, The Theory of Everything, The Book Thief, The Politician’s Husband, Cemetery Junction, Fireflies in the Garden, Wah-Wah, Equilibrium, Punch-Drunk Love, Gosford Park, Cradle Will Rock, Hilary & Jackie, The Boxer, Breaking the Waves
• Keira Knightly – The Imitation Game, Love Actually, Never Let Me Go, Atonement, Pirates of the Caribbean, King Arthur, Bend It Like Beckham, Star Wars Episode I
• Josh Brolin – Dune, Hail Caesar, True Grit, Milk, No Country for Old Men, The Dead Girl
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Life, Prisoners, Rendition, Zodiac, Brokeback Mountain, Day After Tomorrow, The Good Girl, Donnie Darko
• Why? The cast and the subject.
• Seen: 5 April 2023      

       Oh yay, another mountain climbing film. Who can resist? I love mountains. I’m terrified of heights.

       Climbing Mount Everest has become a commercial affair and the base camp is filled with rivalling companies paid to lead a variety of adventurers to the summit and back safely. Some have reached many other peaks, some have health issues, some have family issues. It’s dangerous for everyone and there are no guarantees.

       Of course, the scenery is stunning, sensational, spectacular and every other superlative you can think of. The story is more realistic than other climbing films. It is indeed based on a true story. The characters are just developed enough to care about.

       The last bit is very suspenseful. 

4* of 5