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The true-life rescue attempt of a 26-year-old medical student and experienced spelunker who got trapped in a Utah cave.
Starring Chadwick Hopson, Alexis Johnson, Landon Henneman, Jyllian Petrie, Jacob Omer
Written by Isaac Halasima
Produced by Bryan Fugal, Mike Staheli, Aaron Stephenson
Duration 105 minutes
This is a serious film. It’s based on a serious, real-life incident: the 2009 rescue attempt of John Edward Jones in Nutty Putty Cave, west of Utah Lake, USA (even if ‘John Jones’ does sound like a bland, made-up movie name.)
But we have a problem here. Seriously, ‘Nutty Putty Cave’? That was a distraction for me going in. What the hell kind of name is that? It sounds like something off of Doctor Who, with all its cringe-inducing ‘timey-wimey’ guff. So what, was ‘Rocky Chocky’ taken? Did they never think of ‘Cavey Wavey’? I ask you, Nutty Putty ... it makes me think of Nic Cage's pronunciation of ‘naughty’ with his girlfriend in THE ROCK (I couldn't find a clip on YouTube; it’s about 15 minutes into the film.)
I was also getting strong 127 HOURS vibes from THE LAST DESCENT, another real-life story. In that one, we know James Franco’s character lives – albeit minus one limb. In APOLLO 13, we know they get back to Earth. In TITANIC, there's no way the ship won't go down.
This means that THE LAST DESCENT faces a distinct narrative challenge: the foregone conclusion. The above films tackled this with strong characterisation, by focusing on the problems happening in the moment, and by use of charismatic stars. James Cameron especially knew what he was doing by making TITANIC Romeo and Juliet on the waves (with your actual former son of Montague!) and putting the stakes of their class-shattering love affair front and centre. Sure, they’re on a ship that sinks – but we knew we were watching a doomed romance, so the fact that it was taking place among one of the most famous tragedies of the 20th Century became practically immaterial.
Alright, so THE LAST DESCENT has all that to navigate. But note as well that the description up there says ‘rescue attempt’. Yes, unlike most ripped-from-the-headlines stories, but similar to the sinking ship film, this did not have a happy ending.
Whew. Quite a lot to contend with for this little flick. The only question left is, does it pull it off?
First, there’s tinkling piano. A baby is born. Tiny hand grips big. Life is precious. ‘His name is John,’ someone (a nurse?) says. OK, so it’s our hero, placed into the alcove of a blanket that sinks as if into a dark hole – ominously foreshadowing his fate.
Then we cut to him in his 20s, with wife and his own child, meeting his brother at the airport. The first thing that strikes one about Chadwick Hopson, who plays our John Jones here, is how much he resembles Topher Grace. And so does Jacob Omer, playing the brother! I mean, I guess that qualifies as good casting. But what was the reasoning? Did the real Topher G turn them down? Was he keeping his schedule free in case Sam Raimi decided to direct a fourth Spiderman film and needed him to come back as Venom?
Next scene, and they're driving away from the airport and bantering, as brothers will. Nutty Putty (!) Cave has reopened and they decide to go spelunkin’ together. At the entrance to the darkness, both wife and bro have some good foreboding lines:
Bro: "Do you want
to change up the batteries in your headlight to be safe?"
John: "Nah, we're
only going for a few hours."
Wife: "Hey, give
me a call when you're ready to come home. I want to talk about... stuff."
John: "What 'stuff'?"
Wife: " ... I'll
tell you when you get home."
Turns out she was – gasp! – pregnant and the baby from the opening was actually a flashforward to the newborn John Jr, who daddy John will never meet. Ouch.
So, into the cave the bros go. They’re crawling about, lit only by torches and glo-sticks. They’re having a good time, they chat about the past, they bond. It’s kind of hackneyed, but that’s OK.
Deeper they go. It gets claustrophobic; well, moreso. They lose each other. They find each other. But John’s stuck. And bro’s attempts to dislodge him are unsuccessful. So, bro has to leave him to get help.
I was expecting there to then be a long spell with them searching for John, but after only a couple of minutes of screentime, the rescue team arrives. This is actually quite effective for the movie's sense of dread, as John has the means of salvation right next to him, but they can’t do jack. Our man is stuck pretty tight; the rescuers just can’t get any damn leverage. And since he’s wedged in upside down, the blood is travelling to his head, bringing on delirium and full-body shutdown faster than the longer lead time he would have had if the main dangers were ‘only’ dehydration and starvation.
He’s stuck too deep for them to pull with ropes and they don’t have time to get machinery set up to drill. Someone even suggests getting peanut oil down there to try to slide him off, like a wedding ring stuck on a bloated finger.
But it’s clearly hopeless.
OK, so by now we’re approaching THE LAST DESCENT's halfway point. How will the movie fill the rest of its time towards its foregone conclusion?
With flashbacks. Lots of flashbacks, with John’s voiceover explaining every detail of his childhood and meeting his wife. And the recollections get understandably less nostalgic and more morose as John’s chances of survival in the present steadily plummet.
It’s hard to be too flippant about something like THE LAST DESCENT, despite my natural instincts. I didn’t really enjoy the extended retelling of John’s Hallmark-movie romance, and it all gets a bit too magical realism for me towards the end. And the budget-127 HOURS vibe was hard to shake. But the movie takes on a narrative challenge and doesn’t drop the ball, despite the odd fumble, retelling a poignant story with respect. So ultimately it deserves a smattering of measured applause.
After this tragedy, they sealed up that cave. They should probably just detonate the bloody thing to be on the safe side, so no one has to say its stupid name or get stuck within its stupid depths ever again.
Three stars out of five.
Valid use of the
word ‘last’? For John Edward Jones, sadly yes.
What would a movie called THE FIRST
DESCENT be about? It would be pretty nerve-wracking, I’d expect. I took a school trip to Chislehurst Caves where the guide turned off his torch to make it full dark, and that was bad enough for me.
Previously: LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT
Next time: THE
LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT
Check out my books: Jonathanlastauthor.com
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