Director: Alex Parkinson
Writers: Mitchell LaFortune, Alex Parkinson, David Brooks
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole

Synopsis: A true story that follows seasoned deep-sea divers as they battle the raging elements to rescue their crew mate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface.

A film about a profession the vast majority of us know nothing about can be jargon heavy. Things like saturation diving, being able to work at extreme depths for longer periods, or DPO, dynamic positioning officer. There are lots of new words or familiar words with strange new meanings. Films like this get bogged down and lose some humanity, but there is something different about Last Breath. This film keeps its heart amongst the new environment we’re thrust into.

The story is about the divers in harm’s way, first and foremost. It helps that director and co-writer Alex Parkinson co-directed and wrote a documentary feature, that shares a title with this feature, that also covers this true story. He has first-hand knowledge of these people and while many interactions have been dramatized (as well as personal details change), the heart of the story beats because it has real people and their interviews behind it.

Writers Mitchell LaFortune, David Brooks, and Parkinson also stray from some of the tropes that are common to tough guys in tough jobs films. The hard edged veteran, Dave (Simu Liu), is serious and seemingly emotionless. Many other characters in the first scenes call him “The Vulcan,” like the logical Mr. Spock from the “Star Trek” franchise. Unlike a typical tough guy, though, Dave’s toughness comes from a genuine place of safety. He doesn’t want Chris (Finn Cole) thinking of his fiance, not because he’s mean, but because he’s in an extremely dangerous situation and needs the only other person down there with him to watch his back. Simu Liu is getting good at playing this type of character in these types of manly tearjerkers. See his work in last year’s Arthur the King. It’s a shame the rest of the plot, even if true, is too easily predictable.

Most of the rest of the story follows the pattern of similar stories. It’s a pretty boilerplate drama. There is tension and it gets your heart pumping, but there is a nagging feeling in the back of your head. There is a character’s life at stake and as the helpless crew in the ship and the helpless Duncan (Woody Harrelson) in the underwater diving bell waiting to pull his divers to safety, are tense, it never feels like it will surprise. Even as the climax occurs, there’s a sheen of predictability that never quite wears off. The falling action stalls and the climax plateaus for far too long. Last Breath was only ever going to end one way and, at a certain point, you wish the filmmakers would just get on with it.

Though, while you wait for something truly surprising to happen, you can marvel at the images of the environment. If more than a modicum of CGI was used, the effect was seamless. Parkinson and cinematographer Nick Remy Matthews captured some terrific underwater action that looks very practical and keeps the reality of the moment. Connecting those visuals with the incredible sound by mixer Aleksandar Bundalo and editor Archie Lamont creates a tremendous impact. There is a scene where the diving bell impacts the metal of the underwater manifold and the sound makes you jump and makes your teeth hurt simultaneously. Everything underwater was truly stunning.

A film like Last Breath isn’t setting out to reinvent cinema or to splash us with a great deal of melodrama. It sets out to tell a true story well and to make us empathize with a group of people that do the dirty work of keeping the houses of Europe supplied with heat. It’s an interesting story if a bit predictable. Last Breath is a film that reminds you that, as much as it sucks to sit and stare at TPS reports all day, at least you don’t have to risk your neck for a faceless natural gas company who doesn’t want to spend the money on robotics research and development that could prevent anyone from having to risk their life like this.

Grade: C