Kamurai
Aug 27, 2020
4/10
Bad watch, won't watch again, and can't recommend.
I had to watch this twice because I was sleepy the first time and it didn't seem like anything happened. I can't say I was entirely wrong: there is a lot of nothing that happens in this movie, but it looks like it is by design.
I feel that Jewel Staite is (or at least can be) a strong actor, but this role doesn't demonstrate that very well, and I think there is an argument for this being another "a man is her solution" cliche, which I think would upset Jewel, but her character is a vapid, barely capable idiot who is cared for by a strange man and then goes for him like she just needed to be taken care of. She (surprisingly) steps up when needed, but she's not the strong, independent woman the beginning of the movie presents her as. I know it's played for laughs, and Jewel nails the character, but I don't like the character.
The snowy wilds of Alaska are also a weird place to set a romantic comedy. It's very dangerous from the start, and that's part of the long running joke, that's she's going to get herself killed.
It also lends to isolationism: they're each alone once the snow sets in, then they're alone together, then they're eventually together, alone. It's rather gloomy atmosphere for a romantic comedy, and it really isn't all that fun the way they fight during the "I hate you but we could bang" phase. There is just little power to everything that happens, the characters are just written as present and not active.
Shawn Roberts plays off of Jewel Staite as well as his character will let him, but the entire rest of the cast (minus the bear) are just weird casting choices and are really unnecessary to the plot. We don't need the slutty sister hitting on the husband to be, you can literally cut out EVERYTHING involving her family before the wedding, and it would be a better movie.