The Mountain Between Us

Winslet deftly balances spunkiness and vulnerability, and Elba (still fondly remembered as a surprisingly erudite criminal on HBO’s “The Wire”) exudes brooding masculinity.

Helped by director Hany Abu-Assad and spectacular cinematography by Mandy Walker, who makes the most of the film’s British Columbia locations, Elba and Winslet generate chemistry that is convincing in direct proportion to the story’s outlandishness.

The Mountain Between Us isn’t a bad movie, overall. The scenery’s gorgeous, the two leads are enormously appealing, and nothing about the dialogue or visual style particularly grates. This is an easy picture to watch… and to root for, in a way, because it’s so rarely overbearing. But it’s only ever mildly engaging.

The Mountain Between Us is an uneasy hybrid of a film, and its successes and disappointments show the benefits and drawbacks of hitching your film to a pair of stars.

Together, they (Winslet/Elba) share warm chemistry. But that’s not enough to melt eye-rolling exposition or predictable twists you see coming — even in a whiteout — a mile away.

Typically actors like Winslet and Elba can elevate even the most-pedestrian material, but making this story better would require a feat of superhuman strength.

The annoyingly coy title of this non-epic about two people trying to survive a private plane crash in the high Rockies while a passive sort of romance develops during the descent pretty much says it all while simultaneously offering nothing of any great interest, much like the entire movie.

I'm utterly shocked at the reviews I'm seeing on all the big sites - from fans and critics alike. Having read a few, I can only say the issues others seem to have had upon seeing "The Mountain Between Us" were, for the most part high points for me. I thought the entire story, the acting, the plot - and especially the pace and arc of the story/characters - were, in a word, perfect. Not a perfect movie, but neither was this a case of "good for what it is" movie either (like some of the guilty pleasure movies I've enjoyed for purely escapist value). I found that depth, substance and authenticity pushed "The Mountain Between Us" so far beyond the vast majority of pictures with similar descriptions/trailers that it at once satisfies, defies and elevates the so-called survival thriller genre.

Somewhat bland writing and dialogue takes a promising premise, and makes it progressively predictable and cheesy as it goes on. The first 15 minutes were interesting, and then a bit more as they struggle, but then it falls into cliche territory, and without excellent writing and dialogue...just becomes OK and rather bland. Worth seeing if you like survival films though, but, nothing special.

Maybe if there wouldn't be so many similar movies out there it would have been a great movie, but as simialr themes have been outdone, plus there are many better ones out there, this doesn't really bring anything fresh or that interesting compared to them to the table. The acting is great and the movie is not bad, just that it is not great either.

Garbage, this movie was garbage. THERE IS A BOOK. There was a story already written! The story is written well and it is highly rated by readers on sites that deal with book ratings. Then someone came along and decided to pervert it. Someone came along and asked themselves: "how can I take this amazing story and just completely trash it, how I can completely ruin this story so that it resembles the bare amount of the original work." What was even the point of buying the story from the author if garbage was all that was going to be created from it? Read the book and skip the movie, there is nothing worthwhile in the movie. What a waste of great acting talent.

The advertising would suggest that this is a survival thriller. Two strangers having to work together in order to survive after a plane crash and they face epic challenges along the way. At least the trailer would make you think that was what the movie was about. Instead, the movie is actually a badly directed romance disguised as a survival thriller. Both of the main characters fall in love during the journey and it’s all just awkward. The dialogue is pretty bad, there’s odd pauses when Elba and Winslet talk, the pacing is really slow, and the last 20 minutes are completely unnecessary. Not to mention that the story becomes really predictable. It’s all a shame because Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are talented actors. They try their best, but it can’t save this movie. Some action sequences (like the plane crash) and camerawork are well-done, but the predictable story and terrible directing bring it all down. Essentially, this is a big budget Hallmark Channel movie disguised as a survival thriller. If you like those kind of movies, you’ll enjoy this. But as for me, this was a bad movie.