Alive

Fair rendition of the harrowing tale concerning the members of the Uruguayan rugby team who survived a plane crash in the Andes. Ethan Hawke and Vince Spano do their utmost to try and make this one fly (no pun intended) but either the script or direction give it a made for television feel which takes away from the intensity of the story. Could be lumped in with our Christmas theme as they are all singing Silent Night (I think?) at one point which is strange as the crash took place on Friday the 13th OCTOBER 1972. What makes the story interesting other than the incredible odds of anybody surviving is how they did it, namely consuming some of their fellow passengers. Any kid growing up in the mid-'70s no doubt discussed the morality of such an action in school and what I find unique with ALIVE is the actors ate turkey jerky (after a two day fast to identify with the real survivors) and given the choice I think I'd take human flesh hands down. Illeana Douglas has a small role and John Malkovich does uncredited duty introducing and closing the picture from the perspective of the survivor who wrote the book.