“Last Breath” is a film adaptation of a documentary with the same title. Based on a true story, three deep-sea saturation divers, Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson), Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) and Chris Lemons (Finn Cole), on the bottom of the freezing North Sea must survive the elements when the technology on their support ship goes on the fritz. When Chris gets separated from the rest, he starts running out of oxygen. Will he die before anyone can reach him?
If you enjoy survival thrillers like “The Perfect Storm” (2000), “Last Breath” is a must-see movie. If you think that it would be cheaper to watch the documentary at home, you would be right. Both cover the same ground but just tell the same story in different ways with the documentary having the edge on not polishing off the personalities of those involved. In real life, all three men are from the United Kingdom without movie star looks or media training plus there is more insight on the other people involved in the rescue effort, but the only slightly dramatized movie visually captures the dire situation in a way that words and actual footage cannot convey. The movie takes the interviewees’s words and translates them into action and dialogue. Think a twenty-first century equipment version of “Star Trek” meets “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954).
Relative unknown Finn Cole plays Chris in a casual, affable manner more like a babe in the woods than the real-life Chris. He is introduced as a young man in love with his whole life ahead of him. Cole resembles a cross between a young Dominic West and Heath Ledger while the actual Chris’ dome is smooth so the casting director was clearly going for sweet, young earnest guy whom people will feel naturally protective. Cole does his job, but because he is stuck in a suit or incommunicado for most of the film, it is not the kind of performance that launches a thousand ships.
Duncan is the “sat daddy” (for saturation) of the crew as the most senior diver on the team. As the bell man, he remains in the vessel that descends to the ocean floor and acts as a lifeline to the two divers. He has the closest bond with Chris, and Harrelson plays him like a joshing coworker whereas the real-life counterpart is a little more reserved and reads books to pass the time more than yucking it up. Both versions of Duncan are emotional about the entire experience though Harrelson plays it like the grim tortured man with emphasis on his physical movements as if they were another nail in Chris’ coffin. The performance is more stiff determination of not leaving a man behind than openly weeping for his friend, which would have been more accurate. It is also trite that it is Duncan’s swan song voyage before he retires even though the old dog has more to give.
Meanwhile Dave needs to thank the Hollywood gods for his depiction. Liu is all muscles, and his performance is filled with notes of warmth compared to his off-screen counterpart, who is much more matter of fact and compartmentalized in the way that he functions verging on ice cold. Liu treats his character like the traditional everyman action hero complete with the “look at me” and “I will come back for you.” It is very dramatic, and an efficient way to create a bond between the two characters with a promise to the audience that a rescue is coming whereas the two men seem as if they were separated without a word. Liu makes Dave seem like a changed, more sensitive man after the experience, but the real life Dave turned into annoyed parent of a child who put his hand on the stove top even though no human being was at fault for what happened.
“Last Breath” is also a gorgeous film and contrasts Chris’ serene life on his oceanside property compared to the industrialized harbor and wild waves of the North Sea. Tik Tok lovers will be very familiar with the daunting ocean which is associated with deep voiced rendition of The Wellermen’s rendition of “Hoist the Colours.” Magnify your smartphone screen to the size of the big screen, and here is where the movie has the advantage over the documentary. Titanic size storms are part of the daily humdrum life on a ship in the North Sea, but when technology fails, the weather finally threatens everyone as above so below.
The story settles into the comforting, well-worn fantasy of a crew as a well-oiled machine capable of rising to face impossible challenges and substitute brain and muscle to work around the challenges. The actual ship seemed less massive whereas the onscreen ship and crew present as formal with impressive stations and uniforms that would not be out of place in a naval battle. Cliff Curtis plays newbie Captain Andre Jenson who must balance the needs of the ship, the divers and environment though the documentary never mentions the latter. His first mate (MyAnna Buring) is mostly given technical jargon and echoes his movements in a tense scene that tests their mettle as they are forced to steer a ship not designed for human handling. Dive Supervisor Craig (Mark Bonner) comes off as more paternal and nurturing than Craig Frederick who seems to have an inflated ego. In a day and age where it feels as if no one in power or authority is knocking it out of the park, doing their best or caring about anyone but themselves, “Last Breath” is a nostalgic throwback of the idea of no person left behind and a willingness of masses of people devoted to saving one man’s life.
Director Alex Parkinson, who codirected and wrote the documentary, uses a similar narrative structure to communicate the tension with a countdown clock showing how many minutes of oxygen Chris has left then how long Chris has not breathed oxygen. There is a found footage narrative element to this film with the ship crew acting as audience surrogates riveted to surveillance cameras and comms. Found footage is normally associated with the horror genre so using similar techniques is an easy way to trigger that fear without cheapening the story’s veracity. The documentary predominantly consists of actual footage from the incident. The computer monitors are gussied up to look sleeker and more simplified for the average moviegoer to read the controls. While it is a pet peeve when a movie opens in medias res, it does not ruin the story this time because it does not give away the most important aspect of the suspense: whether Chris will live or die. Unlike the documentary, no underwater sea life is shown, which is a good choice because then focus would be diverted to wildlife. The mission is not framed as commercial and profit-driven, but a life-sustaining operation to keep people warm in the winters. Good spin is good spin for a profit-driven company working in oil. It is only propaganda if the truth is known and different.
If you like extreme survival movies, “Last Breath” is for you, but people who suffer from claustrophobia or frayed nerves need not apply. Parkinson’s fictional feature debut is a solid, conventional start to a career previously devoted to nonfiction. While the moviemaking magic took liberties, the overall story is left intact and is an inspirational story about human beings overcoming incredible odds.
