6 Below

This true-life adventure offers a cautionary tale about the importance of preparation in winter sports. Josh Hartnett plays Eric LeMarque, a former pro hockey star now battling with addiction issues, who hits the wintry High Sierras for a spot of snowboarding. However, worsening weather closes the mountaintop ski resort after he's already headed way off-piste. Soon he's spending days and nights in the frozen wilds with no food, water, or cellphone signal - and hungry wolves circling. What sounds like a stirring story of resilience (like 127 Days) turns out to be a rather plodding movie, which falls back on clichéd flashbacks to fill in character detail. It was actually shot in an ultra-widescreen three-panel process called Barco Escape, which no UK cinemas are equipped to show in full, though the snowboarding highlights still impress in this single-screen version. It's only moderately engaging overall, and Mira Sorvino, some 11 years Hartnett's senior, is odd casting as his concerned mum.