Chris O'Donnell was bummed by the "no-ski-on-your-day-off"
rule and the director (New Zealander Martin Campbell) has vertigo
and hates snow and helicopters. Other than that, the VERTICAL
LIMIT shoot was a walk in the park (or a trek up a very high
mountain).
When brother and sis Peter and Annie Garrett (Chris O'Donnell
and Robin Tunney) lose their dad in a horrible climbing accident,
they become estranged and go their separate ways; he to shooting
critters with a camera for National Geographic and she to
becoming one of the most famous female climbers in the world.
They are reunited at a basecamp at the foot of towering K-2
in the Himalayas where Annie is leading a documentary team
filming an ascent by selfish, big-bucks businessman Elliot
Vaughn (Bill Paxton).
When Vaughn, Annie and their team leader end up trapped
in an isolated crevasse at 26,000 feet after an avalanche,
it's up to brother Peter to lead the rescue effort. He's aided
by the Pakistani Army and crusty and mysterious veteran climber
Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn) who has a personal axe to grind
with the cocky Mr. Vaughn.
It's Man versus Nature and himself in this action-adventure.
Since Martin Campbell directed "The Mask of Zorro" and the
effective James Bond flick "GoldenEye", we expect some creative
and wild action sequences and we aren't disappointed. Characters
are blasted across cliffs and dangled from impossible precipices.
You can almost feel the cold and hear the rumble of the avalanches.
Unfortunately, you can also hear some of the unintentionally
laughable dialogue like when O'Donnell's character says to
his rescue team at basecamp, "There's not just snow up there.
There's rocks and ice too". No kidden'? It's a frozen mountain,
ChrisÉ.get a clue! Some of the interactions of a slapstick
duo of climbing brothers are humorous while others are just
plain silly. (One of the bros contorts crazily in a helicopter
while trying to "kiss his ____ goodbye".) There are also a
few lapses in logic involving nitroglycerine but we won't
go there.
I did like the fact that the women in this film (Tunney
as Annie and Izabella Scorupco as part of the rescue team)
are take charge, no nonsense types who can hold their own
whether dangling from a mountain, saving some guy's butt or
melting snow in a pot. Sooo, mixed feelings on this one. If
it's great dialogue and no-holes plot points you want, stay
on the ground but for some pretty thrilling action, make the
hike to the treacherous "Vertical Limit".
Opens December 8th
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Screenplay by: Robert King, Terry Hayes
Starring: Chris O'Donnell as Peter Garrett, Robin Tunney as
Annie Garrett, Bill Paxton as Elliot Vaughn, Scott Glen as
Montgomery Wick, Izabella Scorupco as Monique Aubertine
Official Web Site: http://verticallimit.com/
