Outlive

Authors: Maia
Location: Los Angeles, CA

“Outlive"

Written and Directed by Todd Field
Original Music by Gustavo Santaolalla
Cinematography by Caleb Deschanel
Editing by Hughes Winborne

Principal Cast:

Jake Gyllenhaal as Matthew Anderson
Ryan Gosling as Johnny Williams
Derek Luke as Brad Sweeney
Jay Hernandez as Mike San Pedro
Susan Sarandon as Marcia Anderson
Anna Paquin as Linda Williams
Hector Elizondo as Miguel San Pedro
Chris Cooper as D.A. Alfred Graham
Oprah Winfrey as Manola Sweeney

Tagline: "They thought they had survived the worst"

Synopsis: One day last summer, a group of adventurer friends (Gyllenhaal, Gosling, Luke and Hernandez) rented a fishing boat and traveled into the Pacific Ocean to hunt sharks. That was the last time Mathew Anderson, Johnny Williams, Brad Sweeney and Michael San Pedro were seen… Until now.

After losing their course back to shore and then, unbelievably drifting for over a year. The friends were rescued days ago by a New Zealand fishing ship on the opposite side of the Pacific. Unbelievably, three of these four friends were found alive and practically healthy. ‘Outlive” tells the unimaginable story of how these men survived the worst circumstances, their miraculous return to home as heroes and how after that, they became suspects of murder.

What the press would say:

Meticulously written as a metaphor of the Pacific Ocean’s characteristics, “Outlive” is a tempestuous and larger than life film from acclaimed filmmaker Todd Field. Thank his powerful screenplay (that with this extended use of gimmicks as flashbacks and court scenes would quickly sink as your average Lasse Hallstrom film) for presenting an emotive narration of these men’s return to life and how they later wished for the opposite.

During the film’s first minutes, we are introduced to our four main characters as they prepare for their hunting trip: Matthew Anderson (Gyllenhaal) just lost his father and doesn’t want to leave his widowed mother (Sarandon) alone. Yet, she encourages him to go and have a good time with his friends after weeks of sorrow… ‘I’ll see you in a couple of days” says Gyllenhaal with the depth and sensibility needed to make a cliché work. Johnny Williams (a charming Gosling) is the most enthusiastic about the trip, “I can’t wait” he tells his wife (Paquin) as she feeds her newborn baby. Mike San Pedro (played sharply by Hernandez) waits quietly for a taxi cab with his seemingly cold father (Elizondo). When the car arrives and he is about to get inside, his father shyly gives him a gift: a Swiss army knife (a tool that would eventually help him to survive). Brad Sweeney (Derek Luke) talks to her loving and over-protective mother Manola (a heartbreaking Oprah Williams) on the cell phone, he is on his way to the marina to meet his friends but she would rather him to go back and stay away from any risks. It is the unconditional love portrayed by a very believable Williams on this brief scene what later on gives her the strength to go all the way in order to find out what happened to his now dead son. We see the group together minutes later and while we know what will happen to them, the young actors’ ability to portray friends we can all relate to make the wait worthwhile. They sail away and the rest is story… Field shows us funerals, obituaries, media reports and each of our young men’s relatives slowly moving on.

Manola Sweeney is ironically the first one to be informed about their rescue via a phone call from the U.S. embassy in New Zealand and it is here where Oprah Williams shows her acting chops jumping from immense happiness at first and instantly, tearing into pieces when she finds out her son is the only one who has not survived.

Field advances the story quickly to the moment Anderson, San Pedro and Williams reach American soil and are received by their families and a caravan of reporters at the airport. Excellent editing work by Hughes Winborne inserts flashbacks of the survivor’s adrift (we see them perishing, fighting, catching fishes, hunting seagulls and eating them; we also see Sweeney’s disgust to eat raw meat and the different ways they remorse for taking this adventure).

After reuniting with their families and becoming national celebrities, the trio of survivors is soon confronted by the law, represented by a doubtful D.A. (played savagely by Chris Cooper) who believes they killed and likely ate his dead friend.

Taken into court, each of the survivors tell the story from their own perspective and while in the end they are declared innocents, we are left with a final flashback that shows us what could have really caused Sweeney’s dead… and then all fades to black.

Each cast member nails his/her volatile role to perfection, particularly Gyllenhaal as the unofficial leader and “rock” of the group along with Chris Cooper as the explosive D.A. determined to unfold the truth; and Oprah Winfrey as the mother unable to find closure. Gustavo Santaolalla’s guitar-based score modulates the film’s pace efficiently (especially during Cooper’s and Gyllenhaal’s confrontation at court). Beautiful cinematography work by Caleb Deschanel never allows the ocean scenes to look tired.

“Outlive” is just like the sea, calmed for instants but then fiery. It is this combination of emotions what ultimately makes the film successful. Expect this stormy tale of survival to cause a major wave in the upcoming awards season.

Consider this film for:

Best Picture (AMPAS)
Best Picture – Drama (HFPA)
Best Ensemble (SAG)
Best Actor – Jake Gyllenhaal
Best Supporting Actor – Chris Cooper
Best Supporting Actor – Ryan Gosling
Best Supporting Actress – Oprah Winfrey
Best Original Screenplay
Best Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Original Score