Review – Vertical Limit

God smite the person who invented the term “cliffhanger.” It seems nobody can make a movie about mountain climbing without viewing the accident of nomenclature as an edict to create a plot moved by nothing but an endless parade of tense situations. Here caricature is more common than character, and motivations appear to run from cartoonish to non-existent. The result is a Krackauer-esque tale of summit junkies, catastrophes, rescue attempts, catastrophes, men against the mountain, and more catastrophes. The effects are good enough, and the action’s not bad on the rare occasions when the terrible timing of the drawn-out suspense sequences doesn’t kill the excitement. But stand by the mute button unless you’re a big fan of listening to people cough. I’m sure I’m a big fan of realistic depictions of pulmonary edema, but after awhile the hacking gets damn near as bad as the ringing phone at the beginning of Once Upon a Time in America. Mildly amusing