At the Movies with Fatwayne

One of the most lonely and inhospitable places on Earth,  Antarctica,  is the setting for this movie. Just as the station is being prematurely evacuated for the winter because of a approaching storm, a body is discovered under peculiar circumstances. This poses a problem for Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) since she represents the only law there and, as a federal marshall she must investigate the crime. Faced with an impossible time line to solve the case before being left behind for the winter, she does what she is duty bound to do.

In this process the case becomes more perilous as the bodies begin to mount up. She almost looses her life as the killer, unrecognizable with all of the protective arctic gear on, pursues her and barely allows her to escape. That escape however proves costly to Carrie as she looses two of her fingers to frostbite. Despite her injuries she pushes on and discovers clues which lead her to the reason the murders were committed and ultimately those who were involved. Helping Carrie is a U.N. operative, Gabriel Macht (Robert Pryce) who may or may not prove to be her ally. Tom Skerritt plays Dr. John Fury, the station’s resident doctor and friend of Carrie. Also notable was Columbus Short as Delfy who is a bush pilot and bails Carrie out of trouble a time or two!

The movie has its faults such as when Stetko, Pryce and Delfy are inside the remains of a plane that crashed over fifty years ago and has been buried under snow and ice ever since. They manage to open hatches and doors ( that should have been frozen tight) with seemingly little effort. There are other situations that we are suppose to accept as plausible but prove to give us a little trouble swallowing.

I found the flash backs annoying and distracting from the storyline. There are other ways to explain why Carrie found herself assigned to the frozen south pole. It still proves to be a satisfying movie but not the best by any stretch of the imagination.

I have posted a few quotes from this movie at    http://www.tvmoviequotes.com/whiteout.htm

Rated – R -

Fatwayne’s Rating –  -