short thoughts: "whiteout"

don't bother.

really.

don't.

one of the few movies in the past...oh, year? or two? that i haven't finished.

and this is with a cast which claims, as headliners, alex o'loughlin and kate beckinsale.

first -- why cast o'loughlin if all you're going to do with him is illustrate him with excitingly detailed tattoos and show him in one totally gratuitous shirtless scene? i mean, yes, thank you, he's lovely without his shirt on but -- on a base in antarctica? i'd consider having my shirt permanently attached to me.

and that's it, folks, say hello and wave goodbye to the nice australian man.

and kate beckinsale should have known better -- there is nothing happening in this movie. really and truly. nothing at all.

it's a shame because with the cast -- solid b-list plus beckinsale, o'loughlin, and tom skerrit -- they should have done better. and the basic idea -- first murder (maybe) in antarctica -- is a good one. creepy, atmospheric, weird, definitely cold.

but it isn't any good at all, really.

there's a weak attempt at a plot twist which just comes too late to be of any use. there's a lot of mumbling early in the movie when there should have been some plot development and character introduction -- but there isn't. there's snowstorms which pass for tension-inducing. there's irrational leaps in the story which...well, they just suck.

personally, i turned it off to go watch the us get pwned by ghana.