US Marshall Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) is about to return home from her posting to the Antarctic Scoot-Amundsen base before the arrival of bad weather strands the crew for the winter. Unfortunately, a murder victim chooses that particular moment to be discovered, and we are firmly into who-dun-what territory.
For what is essentially a fairly routine murder mystery, Whiteout is consistently entertaining. For a start, the Antarctic setting is unusual and lends both atmosphere and suspense even before the plot is taken into account. The plot, while straightforward, has enough in it to keep you guessing - there wasn't a single element I hadn't encountered before, but the movie was nonetheless solidly constructed in a way to make those familiar elements seem fresh (although the cold light of day reveals that some areas don't bear examining too closely).
And Kate Beckinsale can easily hold centre stage throughout a film like this, striking just the right balance between strength and vulnerability.
I went into this movie expecting to come out thinking "Well, that passed a couple of hours satisfactorily," but I came out thinking "Well, that was noticeably better than I expected."
For what is essentially a fairly routine murder mystery, Whiteout is consistently entertaining. For a start, the Antarctic setting is unusual and lends both atmosphere and suspense even before the plot is taken into account. The plot, while straightforward, has enough in it to keep you guessing - there wasn't a single element I hadn't encountered before, but the movie was nonetheless solidly constructed in a way to make those familiar elements seem fresh (although the cold light of day reveals that some areas don't bear examining too closely).
And Kate Beckinsale can easily hold centre stage throughout a film like this, striking just the right balance between strength and vulnerability.
I went into this movie expecting to come out thinking "Well, that passed a couple of hours satisfactorily," but I came out thinking "Well, that was noticeably better than I expected."