Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Ruthless advertising agency head Dan Cutler (Alan Alda in superbly slimy and fearsome form) pushes the men who work for him as well as several clients to participate in a white water rafting expedition with tragic and disastrous consequences.Director Robert Butler keeps the gripping story moving at a steady pace and presents all the startling events in an evenly balanced manner without ever resorting to needless flashy flourishes or sappy sentiment. Michael Butler's tough-minded script boldly addresses such provocative issues as abuse of power, moral responsibility, and the brutal spiritual price to pay for tenaciously abiding by and adhering to the ferocious cutthroat nature of the corporate mentality. The uniformly fine acting by the top-drawer cast holds this picture together, with especially stand-out work from Peter Gallagher as the conflicted and conscience-stricken Jack Robbins, Robert Loggia as lovably gruff retiree Nick Karas, Bruce Altman as the amiable David Koenig, Fionula Flanagan as Nick's hard-nosed wise Gena, Dakin Matthews as the decent and honest Andy Thornell, and Ken Jenkins as the shaken Jerry Taggert. Lloyd Ahern II's sparkling cinematography provides lots of breathtaking images of the roaring rapids. The spare moody score by Pray for Rain rates as another significant asset. An absolute powerhouse.

The intensity of "White Mile" is somewhat surprising. Oh, I don't mean intensity in the way the DVD case will have you believe - all action and peril in the vein of "The Edge". In fact, the white water rafting is ultimately a very brief portion of the story. The stars of the film (Alan Alda and Peter Gallagher) offer up both very solid and very conflicted characters. At first, the depth is a unexpected thing. We aren't given basic sketches created simply to graft onto a script. Michael Butler has written this film as, essentially, a moral dilemma. In the end, it is so much devoted to this approach that we never quite get going in a fully emotional sense."White Mile" made me think. That's a good thing. It didn't particularly make me feel, but I'm okay with that. The acting was good, the direction adequate, and for something I went into without expectation, I can't say I'm disappointed. Good film.

"White Mile" tells the true story of a driven, success-at-all-cost ad agency executive who puts together a fishing and white water rafting trip for a group of agency and client people so they can bond and make a tenuous business relationship more secure. The trip goes bad when a raft overturns resulting in death and a difficult search through gray areas for a black and white sense of culpability. The film is a solid product given its docudramatic limitations and refuses to be dumbed down and cheapened up for the sake of entertainment. A smart flick with some good messages about the absolute nature of truth, matters of conscience, and just saying "no". (B)

This work relates, speaking in broad terms, a narrative (based upon a true story) of a group of executives that is pressured into taking part in a whitewater raft trip, during which an unfortunate incident occurs. A subsequent lawsuit which addresses the incident completes a good portion of the film. The entire production wants nothing, as all involved perform at a high level. The scenario, by Michael Butler, is stripped neatly to its essence, and immediately engages the viewer with its combination of visceral excitement, suspense, and character development. The direction by the veteran Robert Butler is precise and enhanced by the splendidly balanced casting. Alan Alda gives his finest performance, softly creating a characterization which fascinates as it develops. Among other cast members, Peter Gallagher, Bruce Altman, and Robert Loggia offered nary a flaw in this seamless tale. The scenes immediately leading to, and including, the actual raft trip are enthralling as a test of strength between Alda's character and his companions, a test that reveals varying moral sensibilities. Editing, in a film reflecting issues of larger scope than are commonly seen, provides an important framework; here, a linear structure is created and moves smartly. The cinematography and lighting, under the aegis of Lloyd Ahern II, can be enthusiastically endorsed (with a wide range of scena) as a standard to be envied. The score by Pray For Rain, refreshingly non-DJ, implies applicable emotion neatly and nicely throughout this interesting and beautifully balanced motion picture. An obviously high level of preparation by all involved brings forth one of the finest films of the 90s.