‘Mountain Between Us’ romance is too perfect
On paper, the survival saga-romance “The Mountain Between Us,” from Dutch- Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, seems straightforward: Two strangers bond while enduring a harrowing ordeal after their charter plane crashes on a mountain in Utah. As the film progresses, though, it becomes clear that the romantic fantasy at its heart hijacks this otherwise interesting and unconventional love story.
Certified hunk Idris Elba plays a characterwho’s absolutely perfect — a doctor who dresses well, appreci- ates classical music and is rushing back to New York to perform emergency brain surgery on a child.
Elba’s Ben encounters another traveler, Alex (Kate Winslet), while they’re stranded in an airport. A photojournalist hurrying home to New York for her wedding, Alex suggests that she and this stranger charter a private plane since he’s also in a hurry for important reasons.
But all too soon they’re fighting for their lives on a snow- capped mountain, after their charter pilot ( Beau Bridges) suffers a stroke in flight. During the ordeal, they learn a great deal about each other and themselves.
What almost saves “The Mountain Between Us” from becoming too fantastic to be believed are the skillful performances of Winslet and Elba. Always a wonderfully grounded actor, Winslet is at ease here despite her character’s ex- treme circumstances. Elba gets to flex different muscles playing the romantic lead, and his casting turns out to be spot- on.
So why does the story arc feel phony? Because at almost every step along the way Ben has yet another opportunity to save Alex, whether it’s pulling her out of a freezing lake or feeding her soup with a spoon. Despite their injuries, the ordeal is meant to seemdownright glamorous and sexy.
While Abu-Assad captures the mountain landscapes beautifully, the rose- colored glasses through which the story is presented make it hard to take seriously.