The Movie: Infinite Storm
The Director: Małgorzata Szumowska
The Cast: Naomi Watts, Billy Howle, Denis O'Hare, Parker Sawyers
The Story: When a climber gets caught in a blizzard, she encounters a stranded stranger and must get them both down the mountain before nightfall.
The Review:
The words "based on a true story" always make me wonder just how much of what I am about to see on screen actually happened versus how much creative license was taken to make a more dramatic and compelling story. I think this time around most if not all of what we see on screen may have actually happened and I mean that in an unfortunate way because the movie isn't very dramatic or compelling.
Maybe I've seen more than my share of these types of survival stories or maybe the filmmakers weren't able t o convey enough emotion to draw me in to the events that unfold. There are a few tense moments but I never really felt a sense of real danger or the intensity I feel is needed to make the story work. That's not to say I need big special effects and high flying action but there are ways to tell a small scale story like this in ways that raise the stakes and create a level of tension that you can't look away from.
Ultimately this may just be due to the fact that there isn't enough here to make for a dramatic feature so I wonder if a documentary about mountain guide Pam Bales may have been a better way to get her story out there. That being said, I think Naomi Watts turns in a pretty impressive performance in the lead role and she obviously gave a lot of herself in portraying Ms. Bales in a respectful and compelling way.
The Verdict:
Infinite Storm is a valiant attempt at showing a dramatic story of survival and, while it may not climb to its intended peak, it does feature a peak performance from Naomi Watts.
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