The Climb

This French movie is equal parts hero's journey and romcom. As Samy, the charmingly naive Senegalese-Frenchman willing to climb Mount Everest to prove his love for his girlfriend, Ahmed Sylla manages to maintain the wide-eyed wonder and inherent comedy in his "fish out of water" role, even in the scenes when all hope seems lost and he has no chance of fulfilling his goal. On his climb, he's joined by smiling sherpas fond of French rock-and-roll T-shirts as well as international eccentrics, lovable and not-so-lovable. His support group back home, besides his skeptical but increasingly swept-up girlfriend -- his cabdriver father, protective mother, stoner neighborhood friends, and the radio DJs who interview him as often as possible -- are endearing enough.

The problem with The Climb is that the formula makes even the monumental endeavor of climbing Mount Everest feel somewhat banal. Because, after all, we know how it ends. And there are no unexpected twists or turnarounds that lead the viewer to think that maybe Samy won't reach the top. There's a brief moment of doubt toward the end, but that scene isn't elongated to its full dramatic possibility. Not even the French, who are known for not automatically going for that Hollywood happy ending, could find a way to plug in anything new to this underdog tale.