Greenland

• Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
• December 18, 2020 (US)

A family must fight to survive as a planet-destroying chunk of a comet heads towards Earth.

Greenland is nearly 2 hours of our main characters struggling to survive. That is pretty much it. Maybe the first 10 minutes or so is used to display normal life before everything goes into chaos. But they managed to get a lot of drama and just a generally good story out of desperate race to safety. The narrative is fueled by how the veneer of civility falls away when survival is less than certain. And that’s probably one of the main things in this film’s favor. It is not done to a ridiculous level but rather plausible given the particular situation.

I don’t know why director Ric Roman Waugh and pals felt it necessary to give our main couple of John and Allison Garrity (Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin respectively) marital problems. I don’t think they need to be lovey-dovey, but in a strained relationship doesn’t seem necessary. Mostly because the issue never significantly factors in. This is a reflexive option used in film to create tension that should be created by the situation itself. Considering by the end of the movie it’s all water under the bridge and they didn’t seem to really be too much at each other’s throats at any point why was it necessary? What was the point? I was thankful they didn’t bicker and fight needlessly during the course of the film to create problems and put characters in jeopardy.

Gerard Butler seems to be known for cheesy yet fun films as well as some more serious efforts. It’s an odd dynamic for a career. While this is a disaster film it doesn’t fall into cheesy fun. It’s more a drama about an average man trying to survive a not so average event. He doesn’t have all the answers while being rather flawed but ultimately not irredeemable.

The Garrity family was chosen via lottery to survive because dad is a structural engineer. This is something that the family learns via text. The problems for them start when John’s son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd) is flagged because he’s diabetic. Chronic conditions were to be flagged but Nathan’s was missed when John and his immediate family were picked. So the Garrity’s are not only kicked off their flight but separated by ensuing chaos.

What helps Greenland work is that they take the material seriously. There are great performances and some emotional depth. It’s not melodrama or soap opera. There are no hokey miracle saves. These are realistic people in a desperate struggle for survival. There is even a weird sense of hope to this all.

You feel that there is a genuine connection between John, Allison, and Nathan. They come off as authentic. I understand they’re all actors cast together, but sometimes you just can’t believe that Actor A is married to Actor B and that they have a kid or kids. Here you can actually believe it.

But what really sells this to me was the ending. To heighten the drama our main characters make it to safety with just moments to spare. And then everything goes dark and quiet. A great bit of storytelling that leaves you hanging. Possibly a full minute or so passes before we get a reveal set nine months later that not only did our family survive, but there are other survivors around the planet. It ends hopeful after a rather ambiguous moment.

I do have a quibble. How did the kid with diabetes survive? They weren’t taking people with chronic conditions and the kid only had a month or so worth of insulin on him based on what they took from the house and what they got at an emergency camp AND a pharmacy. I find it unlikely they had much if any handy at the facility they were running towards. As a diabetic that really jumped out at me.

The effects are used perfectly and as such come off realistic. They use enough to set the stage and tell their story. They create shock and surprise with the devastation being more horrifying than cool. It even feels like something from an educational documentary.

Greenland is a fine addition to the disaster movie genre. Not high art but much better than it should be with its depth and emotion. A worthy watch.