BEFORE: Idris Elba carries over from "Beasts of No Nation", and ends a three-day stint. I could have made it longer, like I'm skipping over "The Dark Tower" here, because I think I'll need that film in October, and I'm also skipping "Cats", partly because it's not available to me yet, and partly because I just don't want to. Anyway I've got a schedule to maintain, and skipping those films sets me up perfectly for Monday.
THE PLOT: Stranded after a plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the elements of a remote snow-covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness.
AFTER: More stressful events taking place tonight, as an impending storm shuts down an airport, and two travelers desperate to get home pool their money to charter a small private jet, with an older pilot who doesn't see the need to file his flight plan with the FAA before heading out. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? Well, remember that storm front moving in? This quickly becomes a how-to about what NOT to do when traveling. If your flight gets cancelled and the airline offers you money or miles to re-schedule, plus a night in a hotel, always take that deal. When I used to travel out to San Diego for Comic-Con, the flight from New York was overbooked, and Delta agents kept offering more and more rewards to anyone willing to take the later flight, I wished I could take the deal, but I was always the one who had to be there to pick up the merchandise from UPS, check in at the convention center, open up the booth and start selling. (I ended my service in 2017, and this year, there won't even BE a San Diego Comic Con...)
Anyway, the unlikely pair has different reasons for emergency travel, he's a doctor who needed to get to New York to perform a life-saving operation, and she's a photographer who's rushing to her wedding. Yeah, I've got some bad news on both fronts, neither one is going to make it in time. They're stranded on a mountaintop somewhere in Utah, she has a broken leg, and they (along with the pilot's dog) try to survive inside the plane's cabin, with nothing to eat but some airline almonds (not even peanuts) and some knock-off Oreos. After a few days they're forced to make a critical decision - stay in the plane cabin and starve, or head off into the wilderness and possibly freeze to death?
This is where their differing personalities come into play, she's more reckless and wants to leave (though she's still having difficulty walking) and he's more cautious and wants to stay with the plane. I guess he's just waiting for another mountain lion to stroll by? But it seems that both strategies are risky, so together they set out with the dog, despite not knowing which direction to head. Might I suggest down?
I think I've stumbled on to something here that is unintentionally relevant to the current pandemic. We're all sheltering in place (right? RIGHT?) even though one can only stay sane indoors for so long, but it's dangerous to go outside because of the coronavirus, yet somebody has to go out and get groceries, technically putting themselves at risk. So collectively we're all making decisions every day that are similar to the ones these characters are making. Do we stay 100% safe and starve in our own homes? No, of course not, plus we can always get food delivered or if that's not an option, walk out for more groceries. And soon many of us will face decisions about going back to work, but that comes with its own set of risks, too. I'll have to get back on the subway at some point, walk around the Hot Zone that is Manhattan, and come home, hopefully without having picked up the virus. And that's just Phase 1, at some point we'll have to get back in the habit of going to restaurants, stadiums, theaters, and that risk is going to start piling up again.
There's already talk about opening up Florida beaches and restaurants in Michigan, plus people are protesting in other states to end the sheltering orders and re-start the local economies. These are the people who want to leave the crashed plane and head out into the unknown wilderness. Other people are content to stay indoors for another month, only venturing out for needed food and supplies. These are the people willing to stay in the crashed plane and risk starvation and constant boredom, believing that help will come in the form of a rescue plane or search patrol. But this strategy is also risky, and it's difficult right now to determine the best way to survive. I'm a stay-in-the-plane kind of guy, because I've figured out how to pass the time and occupy my mind, but I'm also the one going out for groceries once a week. I don't want to go back to work until scientists tell me that it's OK. I still understand (sort of) the point of view of people who want to protest the lockdown, but they just seem extremely self-centered, they don't seem to understand or care that their actions have consequences, that by returning to their previous habits they could infect themselves and others, and that once in a while, personal freedoms have to be put on hold for the common good. Anyway, ending the personal sheltering isn't going to bring back movies or sports, so what's the point of that?
NITPICK POINT: This film was made in 2017, but the photo-journalist is still shooting on film? Weren't most journalists using digital cameras by then?
But I think the lesson for the day is to be particular about whom you are sheltering with, because if you're not compatible with that person, the sheltering together is only going to highlight your differences and make a bad problem worse. Or maybe the lesson is to try to be a better shelter-mate, like if there's something you can do for the other person, like making coffee or re-setting their broken leg, that's only going to make you a better partner in the long run. But also, try to ensure that spending more time together brings you closer together rather than drives you apart, that means compromising and thinking beyond yourself, asking if there's anything you can do to make your shared sheltering experience more comfortable and enjoyable. And when it's finally time to head back out in to the world, please do so with an over-abundance of caution and respect for others. Thus endeth the lesson.
Oh, yeah, the movie. Well, I suppose how you feel about this film has everything to do with the ending. Do they make it back to civilization, and if so, how has their experience changed them? Can they go back to the lives they had before, and should they? It's a hell of a good question.
Also starring Kate Winslet (last seen in "Movie 43"), Beau Bridges (last seen in "The Descendants"), Dermot Mulroney (last seen in "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III"), Linda Sorensen (last seen in "McCabe & Mrs. Miller").
RATING: 5 out of 10 canteens of melted snow
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