If you're looking for something with the look and feel of an almost-major motion picture and the writing of a really boring b movie, this is definitely the movie for you.
The first thing that struck me about this film was that it was shot quite well. It had all the hallmarks of a professionally done, decent-budget piece: good cinematography, subtle and appropriate background music, and believable actors who obviously hadn't just been picked up at the 7 Eleven. Even the writing in the beginning did a good job of setting an interesting tone, albeit one that, as others have said, we have all seen a thousand times before. I personally don't mind that sort of redundancy in itself. There are only a finite number of plots available to any writer, and if the details are different and the film is well done I'll watch it without whining for originality.
But then the characters started DOING things. Honestly, I thought about it, and I really don't think these people made a single decision in the entire course of the film that was not completely ridiculous to the point of mental deficiency. I don't want to spoil it, but remember my words as you watch: this is simply not how people would behave (or at least I really, really hope not). Nothing they do makes any sense whatsoever. It is clear that whoever wrote this has absolutely no understanding of human behavior, cause and effect, or the need as a writer to put yourself in the position of your characters so that you can develop a realistic story line.
Nor, it seems, does the writer have any concept at all of human relationships. The people in this movie are supposed to be married, but for most of the film they seem more like roommates. Has this writer ever even seen a married couple? It would have been more believable if they had met on the tour bus on the way there! The script gives them no opportunity to show any real emotion toward each other, and almost none about their situation. It is really quite boring.
On top of that there are some utterly absurd (and offensive) happenings with wolves, as well as the equally unrealistic ability of the characters to deal with exposure to the desert elements for days on end without food or water with hardly a single complaint. Just ridiculous.
Anyway, this movie had a lot of potential that was ruined by a writer who obviously lacks both life experience and the imagination to invent it. The only cure for him may be to stick him out in the desert for a few days in a similar situation so he can see how a real person would react. I for one think we should try it.
