The Mountain Between Us (sort of a movie review)

I first heard about this movie on twitter, a few months ago, when the question of whether it was a romance or not was asked (@mostlybree doing the Lord’s work). Looking up a bit more information, I discovered that it is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, written by…some dude I had never heard of.¹

Which explained, to me, why I had basically heard nothing about the movie until just a couple of weeks before it came out, when it seemed as if the marketing team suddenly realized that a) Idris Elba fucking sells, b) romance readers will go see romances, and c) a romance starring Idris Elba really fucking sells. Suddenly, all sorts of trailers for the movie, highlighting the romance angle, popped up on twitter and youtube.

Here’s one:

 

The short teaser: there’s weather coming, and a number of airports on both sides of the Rockies are closing ahead of the storm. Both Alex and Ben have pressing reasons to get out of Dodge…erm, Boise. Unable to find a seat in the last commercial flights out, and through a connection of Alex’s, they charter a small plane to get them to Denver, where they may be able to catch connecting flights to the East Coast. Unfortunately, their pilot, Walter (played charmingly by Beau Bridges), suffers a cardiac episode as they approach some of the mountain ridges in their route, and the plane crashes. Stranded during a particularly bad storm, in winter, above the snow line, Alex and Ben have to find a way to survive.

Please note: I’m going to go into some detail on the rest of the plot after the cut, so if you are planning on seeing this movie unspoiled, you may want to avert your eyes, perhaps come back *after* you’ve seen it.

Making lists, checking them twice.

This post has existed in draft form for…well, yikes, almost two full years. Something came to light yesterday, that made me come back to it. And you, lucky readers, get to read my thoughts.

As I’ve mentioned before here and elsewhere, I do have a list of authors who, in my opinion, behave badly.¹  And, since my time, emotional labor, energy, and money, are limited, I quite simply refuse to even try their work. It’s still, at least in this small area, a free country.

By the same token, I have a much, much, much longer list of incredible people who are authors who will always get my support.

Mr Perfect, by Linda Howard

As I have been struggling to read new stuff, even by authors I love (Hold Me, by Courtney Milan, and Eidolon, by Grace Draven, languish still in the digital TBR, to name but two), I’ve indulged in some re-reading of old favorites, in the hope this will kick-start my reading mojo.

I have said often that I am a fan of Ms Howard‘s work,¹ so going back to a novel that I remembered loving to pieces was an easy decision to make. Snappy dialogue, female friendships, off-the-charts sexual tension, funny-as-hell heroine, what’s not to love?

Well…

A lot, actually.

This is one of those times when I realize how truly privileged I am when it comes to what I can shrug off: there is some seriously problematic stuff in this book. It was written close to twenty years ago (published in hardcover in 2000), and it really shows its age in its representation of gender dysphoria. If you identify as transgender/gender fluid/gender questioning, you don’t want to read this novel. I will spoil the hell out of this below, but even that may be triggering, so: take care of yourselves, please.

Other reader warnings: there’s violence on the page, explicit sexual content, and adult language. There are also references to mental, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of a child.

Mr. Perfect, by Linda Howard

Okay, without further ado, because this is going to be rather long, even for me, here’s the blurb from my hardcover copy:

Up Close and Dangerous, by Linda Howard

As I’m still struggling with the reading slump from hell, I’ve turned to old favorite authors for comfort reads. Not only do I re-discover plot points or scenes I had long forgotten, but I’m also finding that many of these books stand up very well to the passage of time. Win-win.

As I’ve said a couple of times before, many of Linda Howard’s books are among my all time favorites (though that is one crowded set of bookcases, lemme tell you). While this one has many of the elements that make her novels so appealing to me, it’s not as successful in a couple of respects.

Up Close and Dangerous, by Linda Howard

This novel had a mixed reception when it was released, back in 2007. Personally, I liked it well enough when I read it for the first time, soon thereafter. Re-reading it now, particularly during a slump, has allowed me to better see the basis for the original criticism.

Here’s the blurb, from the cover jacket of my hardback copy: