The Mountain Between Us stars two sumptuously gorgeous actors, Idris Elba and Kate Winslet, who are thrown together by unfortunate circumstances that require them to become a unit in order to survive the ravages of the frosty wilderness. The film aims for classic Hollywood contrivance to result in romance and the resolution of their psychological trauma rooted in being unable to save people with their professional excellence. The film boasts of panoramic views. Of course, the characters are already spoken for, which creates a flimsy barrier to the inevitable pairing, but the unspoken question is will their love forged in the ravages of desolation survive in the sunlight of civilization.
Nothing destroys suspension of disbelief more than personally experiencing abnormally cold temperatures on a daily basis then watching The Mountain Between Us. I live in Massachusetts, and the fall and winter of 2017 through 2018 was uncharacteristically cold, below zero temperature. After one hour of walking outdoors, my gloves provided inadequate protection. I usually listen to podcasts on my iPhone while walking. My cell phone battery was usually at 1% and needed immediate charging upon arriving at my destination even when my settings were set to low power mode. Even the headphones began to go on the fritz. While watching the film, I was weighed down by the practical reality of the situation. What shoes were they wearing? What is the dog eating? Why doesn’t she just play the tape where she left off? Is she rewinding so that she will never finish hearing the recording? Their batteries should have died on the first day. Why couldn’t the cause of the plane crash just be a storm? The cougar would eat whatever is available, not look for the bigger prey.
How can two irrepressibly sexy and magnetic actors have little chemistry? Why didn’t Winslet get to keep her voice? The Mountain Between Us felt a bit like revenge for Rose shoving Jack off the makeshift raft after swearing never to let him go. The movie is gorgeous, but I was never swept away. I began to wonder if I’m so enraptured by Elba’s voice and visage that I’ve confused his characteristics for good acting.
I think that the fundamental problem of The Mountain Between Us is that its narrative is not divided into thirds. We don’t get to know the characters as individuals before they are thrown together. The viewer has the same experience as the characters for two thirds of the movie in getting to know them and see them become a team. Then the last third of the film treats them as individuals and reveals who they are without the other. I think that the filmmaker expects that we want a denouement where we yearn for them to reunite, but I was kind of indifferent to horrified by the situation, which is not the film’s intention.
There is a dissonance between their life experiences before the movie begins and how they act during the first two thirds of the film, especially for Winslet’s character. To continuously root for her character, I have to deem it reasonably plausible how she is sincerely able to discard her ties to her earlier life to cling to the present even though the more plausible conclusion is that she is using two individuals because they meet her needs at different times, and when they don’t fit, she can forget them—out of sight, out of mind. She treats others’ sincere emotions for her callously. I sort of think of her as a cad, and someone whom a significant other should not emotionally invest deeply in. The last half hour feels kind of abrupt and does not smoothly translate the preceding events into the denouement. It felt more like an awkward, uncomfortable college reunion than a sigh of relief and all’s right with the world. If I was more charitable, I would play Stephanie Mills’ Never Knew Love Like This Before, but the last third never felt like it to me. I just didn’t buy it.
I feel like The Mountain Between Us was aiming for the emotional resonance of Castaway, but fell short because there were too many narrative contrivances that did not make a cohesive story. I’m glad that I didn’t see it in the theaters, but it is a passable movie for home viewing. It is definitely not a must see unless you’re a Winslet or Elba fan, but even then, lower your expectations.