“OUT IN THE COLD”
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Tom Skeritt, Gabriel Macht and Columbus Short
Directed by: Dominic Sena
MPAA Rating: R for violence, grisly images, brief strong language and some nudity.
Genre: Action Crime Thriller
By John Delia
The movie trailer for Whiteout is exciting, intriguing and cringing, but the actual movie’s none of these. Going into the film I was feeling anxious to get my action fantasy buds popping, and actually did with an exciting shootout on a Russian air transport. Wow this looks like it’s going to be a great film I thought. BUT, a quarter of the way into the film I found myself disillusioned by a slowly paced crime film that featured some of the poorest acting coming from some of the stars I have most idolized.
The movie surrounds U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Beckinsale), a strong willed crime fighter who has been haunted by an incident that drove her to take an assignment in Antarctica. Bored with minor incidents in a region that knows no major crime, her uneventful days are about to change. Finding a body in the snow that shows signs of murder, she sets out to unravel the bizarre crime. When a deeper mystery involving a downed Russian airplane under the ice is unearthed, Stetko finds herself in the middle of more than a homicide case.
The premise of the film shows a lot of promise, but the characters are not
believable due to poor performances. This I fault to director Sena. He was able to get some great performances out of Travolta and Cage in the crime action films Swordfish and Gone in 60 Seconds, but here he fails, especially with Beckinsale and Macht.
Starring as Robert Pryce a special investigator for the UN Sent to Antarctica, Macht performs like he was called in at the last minute for the role and missed some major rehearsals. Although his character gets a little better during the finale, it’s still unforgivable that he provided feeble support acting for Beckinsale’s role.
As for Beckinsale, I loved her in Underground and she made a great nurse and lover in Pearl Harbor, but here she’s a wimp. Supposedly a tough cop who can take on any crime, she gives a limp performance unlike her previous challenges. Again, improved direction and support would have made for a better film.
Another challenge for the film that failed was bringing the Antarctic to the screen. While some of the vistas are gorgeous, the fight scenes during the hurricane-powered storm are barely viewable. I found myself wondering who was who in the rope-a-dope swirling snow fight scene.
The film is rated R for violence, grisly images, brief strong language and some male nudity so beware of this when choosing to see the film.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A forgetful film that left me cold. 1.5 of 5 Palm Trees.