Patricia Riggen’s pedestrian true-story film about 33 men trapped in Chile’s San José mine in 2010 is told through a melange of cod accents, with Irish Gabriel Byrne, French Juliette Binoche and American Bob Gunton all doing non-specific Latino-inflected English. Antonio Banderas and Lou Diamond Phillips make solid fists of their roles as Mario Sepúlveda and Don Lucho, pulling the disparate team together when disaster strikes. Meanwhile, Riggen methodically juxtaposes crises above and below ground level, the only stylistic surprise being a scene that recalls a hallucinatory moment from Oliver Stone’s wholly superior World Trade Center.
The 33 review – historic rescue minus the drama
Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Cod Latino accents don’t help this lacklustre account of the 2010 rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners
Contributor
Mark Kermode
Writer and broadcaster Mark Kermode is the Observer's chief film critic. He is the author of Hatchet Job and The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex. Twitter @kermodemovie
Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
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