The Mountain Between Us Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs

Downs...

6. The Romance Just Doesn't Work

If you weren't aware that this movie was ultimately a romance, don't feel bad: the marketing mostly leaned away from suggesting a love story between Idris Elba and Kate Winslet's marooned characters, and instead focused on the more interesting (and ultimately better-executed) disaster film elements.

But no, the movie is framed by Winslet's photojournalist Alex Martin trying to get home for her wedding, while Elba's dashing neurosurgeon Ben Bass is haunted by memories of his ex-wife. You can see where it's going, right?

Yes, horrendous circumstances bring people together, but the two actors don't exactly share sizzling chemistry, and more to the point, the film's focus is largely on the survival aspect, so when the word "love" is thrown around in the third act, it feels unearned and out of place.

These moments unfortunately recall a Nicholas Sparks adaptation rather than what you'd expect from a film starring world-class actors such as Elba and Winslet.