The 33 **** (2015, Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Gabriel Byrne, Juliette Binoche, Lou Diamond Phillips, James Brolin, Bob Gunton) – Movie Review

Gripping, sterling real-life thriller in which a Chilean gold and copper mine collapses as a piece of granite twice the mass of the Empire State Building collapses blocking the way out for 33 miners who find themselves trapped underground for 69 days.

A worldwide TV audience of up to a billion and a half people waited and watched to see the miners’ fate. Thank goodness for the happy ending! And the film’s ending, with all the 33 miners joining in happy brotherhood on the beach is a real heart-warmer if you already haven’t she shed a few tears as the men make their way to the surface.

Antonio Banderas gives an excellent performance as the miners’ leader and Rodrigo Santoro is strikingly good too as the concerned Minister for Mines. Too Irish and too French, Gabriel Byrne and Juliette Binoche seem oddly cast as Andre Sougarret and María Segovia, but their professionalism sees them through. It’s good to see Lou Diamond Phillips again as miner Don Lucho and Bob Gunton is effective as Chilean President Piñera.

The production is very convincing, without too much reliance on CGI, though less music would be more, despite it being composed by James Horner. The movie is quite dramatic enough!

© Derek Winnert 2016 Movie Review

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