6 BELOW: MIRACLE ON THE MOUNTAIN – Review

Review by Jake Billingsley

Momentum Pictures will release 6 BELOW: MIRACLE ON THE MOUNTAIN in select theaters and On Demand and Digital HD on October 13th.

6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain is about as predictable as its title. Director Scott Waugh (Need for Speed, Act of Valor) takes us into the world of Eric LeMarque (Josh Hartnett), a former pro hockey star that lost his way. While we gauge our eyes upon the true events that shape LeMarque’s story, we inherit the central focus of his drug problem. We learn that all he has is his addiction, which comes with flashbacks that are almost just as bad; the one positive thing he has is his snowboard. Although, all three of these things eventually bring Eric to a peak of deeper isolation. He gets stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains; what a shocker right? Eric’s mom Susan, played by Mira Sorvino, is almost as troubled as he is. Sorvino has a limited role in the film, but she is good when she’s on screen.

Eric LeMarque spends 8 days stranded in the Sierra Nevada’s. He gets by on one bite of a protein bar and the water he stores in a plastic bag that previously carried his meth. He also carries a dead phone and a radio; his snowboard is the only thing that holds him up at times. This film isn’t about plausibility. It is about the struggles and regrets of a man that is completely distant from everything he needs. On his journey through the mountains, he searches within himself through countless flashbacks, survival agony, and withdrawal. He has nothing in the mountains but the freezing clothes on his back and the haunting regrets from his past. He has to find himself as he tries to find his way back.

The film follows Eric well. Waugh takes his time on Eric’s suffering. When he tracks him through the snow, zones in on him snowboarding, or closes in on his shivering face, Waugh makes us feel how cold the mountains are. He also makes us want to go on a ski trip. No matter how inspiring this story is supposed to be, I’m afraid it’s not. I feel the isolation of Eric in the mountains, but I never feel the need to care. Why should I care when the narrative offers no expositional point of view? As I find out more about LeMarque, I care less. I barely cared at all.

The title speaks for itself. Would you go see a film, for the first time, when you already know the outcome? It is supposed to be an inspiring story of survival, some will see it that way, but some will view it as a waste of time. I would have preferred a documentary with the real Eric LeMarque; he is pictured at the end of the film giving a speech to youth hockey players. LeMarque is a motivational speaker now and it fits him well. The only problem is that he had more to say in one minute than Waugh did in 95.

I wouldn’t recommend the film, but I would recommend the story. It is a life and death experience that serves LeMarque a life changing diet of enlightenment. While moviegoers won’t get that, many will be curious to hear him speak about it; I highly encourage you to listen.