Whiteout Review
Posted by Joseph Lee on 09.20.2009
A movie that deserves to be left out in the cold.
Starring:
*Kate Beckinsale as Carrie Stetko
*Gabriel Macht as Robert Pryce
*Alex O'Loughlin as Russell Haden
*Columbus Short as Delfy
*Tom Skerritt as Dr. John Fury
Story: A U.S. deputy marshal, the only one assigned to Antarctica, must investigate a murder on the frozen continent within three days before the antarctic winter begins. She crosses paths with a UN operative, also investigating the murder. While searching the frozen tundra they uncover something far more sinister than they could have ever imagined.
Trivia: The project was in early development as far back as 2002. Reese Witherspoon was attached to star at the time.
I suppose I should start out this review by pointing out that no, I haven't read the graphic novel on which this was based. In fact, I didn't even know it was based on a graphic novel. I just watched the advertisements and saw an Arctic thriller starring Kate Beckinsale, who I'm a big fan of. Another notable aspect is that this was created by Dark Castle Entertainment, who already had a big hit this year with Orphan. Orphan was one of the best horror films of the year; could Whiteout repeat that success?
It's rare that you see a bad movie of this kind set in an arctic setting: The Thing, 30 Days of Night and Insomnia are all great films set in the Arctic. But it seems as though movie studios never really capitalize on the setting enough. It's curious as to why, because the area automatically invokes a sense of isolation and dread at being that far away from humanity. To be trapped out that far with anything, be it aliens, vampires, or in the case of Whiteout, a murder mystery, puts you far away from any kind of help whatsoever. It makes the suspense factor a little easier to accomplish. So why then, does Whiteout have such a hard time evoking any kind of real suspense or thrills? That's a mystery all on it's own.
Let's get the positives out of the way first. Kate Beckinsale performs admirably in her role. She never acts as if she is above the material (even if she is), and does her best to elevate it. Of course, I question putting someone as beautiful as Beckinsale in a film set in a place where she is covered up for the majority of it. But that's not a fault of the film. This film as benefits from Tom Skerritt, a veteran who is able to bring his ability to his limited role. The film also has some benefits of it's setting with such grotesque imagery as a frozen body smashed and stuck to the ice. It's not a technically bad film, as it's well-shot and competently made.
So what's the problem? I think the blame should lie completely at the feet of the scriptwriters. The script is completely bland, almost as if it was written without any real effort or motivation to produce anything worthwhile. I can't compare it to the graphic novel, as I haven't read it, but you would think the original story had to be good enough to warrant a film. Why couldn't there be as much skill dedicated to crafting this screenplay?
There are two major problems with the script. One is the characterization, or lack thereof. You really don't get anything that establishes who these people are or why we should care about them. That really makes it hard to get invested in the movie and in a movie like this, that's a glaring flaw. The other problem is the lack of logic this movie seems to apply. This movie takes a strong suspension of disbelief in order to sit down and follow it. I appreciate the flashback to try and help things along, but when you're looking back to something that just happened, it's kind of ridiculous. Also ridiculous are some of the stupid decisions the characters made. I'd rather not spoil things by giving examples, but there were moments when I felt like shouting at the screen because of how dumb these people were acting. It takes very little stupidity to make a movie suffer, and this one had a lot of it.
Dark Castle's track record isn't that good anyway, but I had hope with this one. Those hopes were dashed with a meandering script and a so-so presentation. This is one thrill that lacks any kind of thrills and ends up being something that can also be described of the Arctic: boring.
The 411: Whiteout could have used it's premise and setting to make a much better film than it turned out being. Unfortunately the script is not as good as it should have been and that hurts more than star Kate Beckinsale can help it. It's a forgettable thriller that lacks any kind of suspense of anything worth caring about. Skip this.
