Ice Bound (2003) Susan Sarandon, Aidan Devine, Cynthia Mace, Paulino Nunes, Steve Cumyn Movie Review

Ice Bound (2003)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Susan Sarandon in Ice Bound (2003)

Emergency at the South Pole

When Dr. Jerri Nielsen (Susan Sarandon) arrives at the South Pole she is really not prepared for what confronts her from lack of privacy, dodgy power generators, limited showers and a need to separate trash into multiple categories. But with her being the only doctor and no way out for several months Jerri slowly gets use to way of life at the research centre although still struggles with everyone knowing everything about each other. It is why when she discovers a lump in her breast she initially attempts to keep it private from everyone else but soon realises that she is going to need their help and support to keep going until a plane can land to lift her out.

Maybe it is just me but some times I am amazed by how some people get so worked up about details in movies which are based on a true story. Take "Ice Bound", a remarkable story about Dr. Jerri Nielsen who discovered a lump in her breast whilst stationed at the South Pole, I lost count at the number of almost angry opinions I came across when it came to the planes involved in this movie. I don't know whether what is shown in the movie is right or wrong but when it comes down to what the movie is about it doesn't actually make a difference. Yes it would be nice if in these dramatizations of true stories every fact and detail was correct but some times the cost and logistics to do so would be ridiculous.

Aidan Devine in Ice Bound (2003)

With that little gripe out of the way with what you get in "Ice Bound" is not that complicated of movies as we follow Jerri and her experiences at the South Pole. We get to see her go from finding the way of life alien to what she was use to, to being part of the team although one who initially struggles with everyone knowing everything about everyone else. As such we also get to see her learning to not just trust everyone else but stop running from her issues which were the reason for her taking the position in the South Pole in the first place. So quite simply whilst we have this drama dealing with discovering a lump and the way everyone rallied around it is about the lessons Jerri learned from the people she meets at the South Pole and the friendships she made.

Now Susan Sarandon is the big star of "Ice Bound" and she does her usual solid job of bringing out the various layers of her character from being the fish out of water who doesn't want to be part of things to being close to everyone. But for me it is Aidan Divine who makes the movie as he plays the character John Penny with such warmth that you can sense how the events affected him as much as anyone, having grown close to the Doc.

What this all boils down to is that "Ice Bound" is an interesting true story movie, a solid and touching dramatisation of a medical emergency. But the power of the movie is in the friendships it shows and the lessons which are learned when it comes to the characters, their friendships and their growth.


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