Docudrama Thriller Last Breath is a Tragically Lifeless Tale of Survival
The new true-life survival thriller Last Breath chronicles the horrifying 2012 story of Chris Lemons (Finn Cole), a deep-sea diver working in the oil and electrical fields of the North Sea who finds himself cut off from the rest of his team on the ocean’s floor after his lifeline is severed. Through the courageous efforts of Chris’ teammates located above and below the ocean’s surface, something akin to a bona fide miracle ensues, but not until after the diver spends over 20 minutes at the bottom of the North Sea without oxygen.
Director Alex Parkinson and producer Richard da Costa already covered this story in their same-titled 2019 documentary, and did so with solid storytelling chops, incisive interviews with the participants, and dynamic archival footage. It’s a solid effort and well worth tracking down and watching.
I can’t say the same about this narrative docudrama reenactment. It all looks good enough. Parkinson shows terrific skill in juggling impressive visual effects and stunning underwater footage to restage the events originally chronicled in his documentary. The film is also exceptionally well cast, the ensemble featuring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Cliff Curtis, Mark Bonnar, and MyAnna Buring in supporting roles as key figures who go above and beyond to bring Chris home to Aberdeen Harbour located on the Scottish coast.
While that’s all fine, the issue is that Parkinson and the rest of his creative team do precious little to make these characters feel real (even though most of them are). They’re just all one form of a stereotypical disaster melodrama archetype after another. The stoic captain (Curtis). The elder team leader determined to make sure his final dive isn’t a tragic one (Harrelson). The loner superstar who doesn’t make personal connections for reasons he won’t divulge (Liu). The head of diving operations that refuses to leave a man behind (Bonnar). The uncertain second-in-command who will rise to the occasion when the opportunity comes their way (Buring). The left-back-at-home fiancé who worries her beloved won’t be returning home to her (Bobby Rainsbury).
But Apollo 13 this film is not. At a brisk 93 minutes, none of these individuals are given the freedom to become anything more than these one-sentence descriptions. They are here to do their jobs, shed a few tears, make intense exclamations, and unleash a labored grunt or two, but that’s about it. Their interactions with one another? Why we’re supposed to care about anything they’re doing (save for the obvious reasons)? None of that comes across. It all falls disastrously flat, and not even the most intensely focused performance can change that.
There are some great, gut-wrenching scenes, most notably the moment when disaster strikes, the surface ship inexplicably has its computer systems go haywire, and Chris begins his fight for survival. The sequence where his lifeline gets caught on the pipeline’s undersea electronics platform, its severing, his subsequently being thrown to the pitch-black nothingness of the ocean floor, and his monumental struggle to climb back atop the platform before his emergency oxygen supply runs out is sensational. There is palpable tension and suspense, and it was the only time during the entire film when I sat at the edge of my seat.
Yet I never cared. It’s one cliché line of dialogue after another, with characters rushing around trying to solve complex problems before all hope is lost. Harrelson and Bonnar fare the best amongst all of this humdrum chaos, but even they can’t completely rise above the melodramatically facile familiarity. As for Cole, he looks good, sports an attractively winning smile, and has luminous chemistry with Rainsbury (even if they share far too few scenes). But as he spends most of the story unconscious, the overall impression he makes is frustratingly minimal.
And that’s maybe the most disappointing aspect of all of this. None of what I’ve outlined should be construed as a spoiler. The true story at the center of this drama is a matter of public record (and not just because of Parkinson and de Costa’s documentary), and that makes the outcome a forgone conclusion before the opening credits even role. That means those characters, how they work together, and the ways they persevere against impossible odds, that has to come to the forefront. That is where the mystery lies. It is also where the emotional heart and soul of all this craziness should irrefutably be.
So, yes, because of all of that, I was disappointed by this iteration of Last Breath. Chris has an incredible story. The same goes for all of those who were involved with his rescue. But I didn’t care. Not about Chris. Not about his shipmates. Not about any of it. Talk about a tragedy.
Film Rating: 2 (out of 4)
