Free Solo

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source: Free Solo

Definitely suited for those guys who are emotionally insecure and are in constant need of new goals or achievements, because otherwise they crumble into nothingness. The story by itself already lacks any form of suspsense. I mean what could happen? He dies or he wont die, climbing that rock. That's it. One cant fill a whole movie with that so they came up with a lot of relationship talk with his girlfriend. Pffff... Last half hour is gorgeously photographed. But I can watch that on tv as well. Why pay for that? Are you kiddin? Definitely another example of a superficially hyped Netflix production. There is just no way that so many reviews back to back can be this positive about this sodgy "I am gonna conquer myself" stuff...

While this film was interesting and enjoyable, I can't help but think that a better and greater film could've been made out of Alex Honnold and his feat. Unfortunately, the directors like to keep things superficial. Jimmy Chin & crew, editing it as they went along, created a very simple, feel-good story which included themselves as major characters. Way too much screen time was given to their own antics. As far as Alex goes, his living and dating habits are about as deep as they delved into him. In the end, the film just wasn't serious enough. It's a superficial glimpse at an enigmatic person through the eyes of a shallow and egotistical person that doesn't understand their subject all that well and doesn't care to delve deeper. Jimmy Chin & crew should focus on camera work and leave the directing to someone with some vision and talent for it. The potential was perhaps there for a legendary and enduring biopic, but they only made a cheap Netflix movie.

Though I much prefer the documentary The Dawn Wall, this death defying climb doc is very exciting in its final moments. It's truly an amazing feat done by a suicidal, misanthropic athlete who prefers not to use safety gear. I didn't care for most of the documentary, because I don't find Alex to be a very sympathetic character, and I also think it focused too much on his dating life. He is who he is, and I respect that, but watching him share his opinions on love, relationships with others, and the importance of life in general was underwhelming to say the least. Whether he was putting on a bad boy show for the camera, or he really is this detached emotionally, his stubborn world view made him unlikable (to me at least). The results speak for themselves, and what he did was nothing short of incredible (-ly stupid).

If I were in the fifth grade, from a small middle-class town, this would be a great documentary to watch. Honold is pretty crazy, free-soloing heights without a rope It is quite something to watch. What he is doing is pretty amazing. However, as we can see from the documentary, it's pretty much suicidal. One mistake, that's it, no continues. So in respect, the documentary is a bit dangerous because it's going to encourage a lot more people to try doing this. My big issue with the documentary is how arrogant Alex is. Like I said, as a kid, I would probably think Alex was pretty cool, even a role model. Having been to college with so many kids that were like him, I'm repulsed by him. A lot of these guys have money, that's how they can do things like this. They may claim they don't, but that's baloney. At one point, he claimed he only spent 88 cents on food a day or something? Yeah, sure, whatever. You can tell by his demeanor and attitude that he grew up with money. It's very hard to make him likable. That's why I quit watching. He doesn't say he's amazing, but he acts like everything he does is. But let's get real, you climb rock walls for a living, that's hardly essential for humanity to survive. Get over yourself.