Everest * * 1/2

There is nothing really wrong with Everest.  I am sure that on paper Everest sounded like a story that was worth telling.  But making a film is a bit like cooking a meal. It’s a good idea to read the ingredients carefully and then just imagine how those items might work when put together.  You’ll sometimes figure out  before hand that their combination will probably make for a dull dish. Everest is a bit like that. It just plods along (well what else can you do when you’re climbing Everest?) and ends in tragedy.  Another failed expedition and a few more bodies claimed by the big one.  There are no acts of real heroism, just people dropping like flys, which I guess is part of the challenge of taking on Everest.  Like playing with a venomous snake or driving at 250kmh in the rain, it could kill you. And in the case of an expedition in the mid nineties that’s exactly what Everest did.  It’s quite a convincing re-enactment though with wind that could clean blow you off the mountain and blinding snow.

It stars Josh Brolin and Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley and Jason Clark.  In this film, as in reality, the Sherpas who are probably the closest thing to heroes and achievers, get to play second fiddle.