The 33 (2015)

	Also Known As: Los 33
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Patricia Riggen
	Actors: Antonio Banderas (Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, The 13th Warrior), Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche (Godzilla), Lou Diamond Phillips (Bats), Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects)
	Country: RCH, USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 16.08.2016, in-flight entertainment 10" screen.
Synopsis: After their mine collapses, a group of 33 miners gets trapped underground. The Chilean government has to take part in a costly and risky operation to rescue them.
Review: This drama is based on the accident that occurred in Chile in 2010 and that left 33 minors stranded underground for 70 days, until they finally got rescued with the whole world watching. It didn't take much time for a book to be published (Deep Down Dark by Héctor Tobar) and its rights sold to Hollywood. It is a pity that the movie is not Chilean, or at least American but with Chilean actors and in Spanish language. But it is likely that a Chilean smaller production would not have had the same impact. I found ridiculous that American actors like Antonio Banderas or Gabriel Byrne play in English with a faked strong Spanish accent... it doesn't make much sense. At least they throw a couple of 'huevon' throughout the movie, but for example the prejudice against the Bolivian minor would have had more impact if suggested by Chileans rather than spelled out loud by Americans. Other noticeable actors are Bob Gunton as president Piñera, Juliette Binoche that I barely recognized and the B-movie star Lou Diamond Philips (famous from La Bamba) that I hadn't seen since Bats. My first surprise was to see that the minors had some room to move around. For some reason I always thought they were more restricted. You can see in the movie the things that really happened (like the one minor with both wife and mistress waiting for him) in contrast with the obviously dramatization: the pseudo-romance between the sister and the ministry of mining, him having the idea that finally saves the day... Such exaggerations spoiled a bit the authenticity of the enterprise, but in the end the memory of the true events and the emotion at the final deliverance make it alright.
Rating: 5 /10