Whiteout

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Columbus Short, Alex O'Loughlin, Shawn Doyle
Directed: Dominic Sena
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After the first murder in the history of Antarctica, the lone U.S. Marshal (Kate Beckinsale) must quickly solve the crime before a monster storm hits, and strands her (and the killer) on the continent for the entire harsh winter.

Tim's Review:

The best thing about Whiteout is the interesting premise. We have had so many action thrillers over the years, that stories need to get clever if they want us to care. Whiteout certainly does that. This is mostly an average, run-of-the-mill crime thriller. The difference is the setting. I love the idea of a crime thriller set in Antarctica. The most barren, unforgiving landmass on the planet is the perfect setting for a movie.

Whiteout works best when it embraces its location. There are a few beautiful landscape shots which make you realize how isolated and how terrifying it would be to stand in our southern-most continent. I loved the example of what extreme cold does to the human body (prevents critical thinking, slows down motor skills, etc.). It was also terrific seeing how quickly hot coffee would freeze in -85 degree farenheit temperatures. Plus, I have to mention a fairly creative fight scene, which takes place during the titular whiteout. These are the moments that make this movie work.

However, the downside to this film is that in the middle of this exotic location, we have a fairly boring, cliche-ridden, been-there-done-that crime story. Besides the Antarctica setting, there is nothing new or exciting about this movie. It definitely tries to throw off the audience from the real story, but the film's big twist (although I technically didn't see it coming) elicited nothing more than a shrug. There is very little to get excited about here.

The cast isn't bad. Kate Beckinsale makes a believable U.S. Marshal, and like most of her movies, she does just enough to avoid criticism, but not enough to impress. Her performance is decent. I didn't love her character, but I was at least somewhat invested in her story (in spite of the cliches). I've always liked Gabriel Macht, and he does add to the film. Again, he wasn't spectacular, but he got the job done. I did, however, love the presence of Tom Skerritt. I can't remember the last time I saw him in a movie, but I was very glad to see him here.

Whiteout is worth seeing because of its unique setting. However, th movie is not worth seeing because it is a recycled mess of ineffective plot lines. The story isn't powerful or memorable, and it is hard to get excited about a story we've seen dozens of times before. The movie has a few great moments, but it mostly just caters to our lowered expectations. There are a few moments that just make you roll your eyes- Kate Beckinsale will spend most of the movie covered head to toe with the warmest clothes possible. What do we do- shower scene! It is this kind of writing that prevented this movie from achieving any kind of success, and doomed it to inhabit that zone of movies that don't offend, but you can't really care about, either.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Underworld, Vacancy, Van Helsing, Mindhunters, American Outlaws