Year Released: 2022
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton
(PG-13, 142 min.)
Genre: Drama Based on True Events

“When you are going through hell, keep on going. Never, never, never give up.” –Sir Winston Churchill

You are there right with them. The two cave divers that are the focus, but also the Thai forces and more than 10,000 volunteers attempting a harrowing rescue of the twelve boys and their coach trapped in a cave in Thailand.

It took me five days to decide to see this tremendous film. I kept putting it off, since like most of us, I knew the ending. Don’t follow my example. See it for yourself right now on Amazon streaming.

Thirteen Lives recounts the incredible true story of the tremendous global effort to rescue a Thai soccer team who become trapped in the Tham Luang cave during an unexpected rainstorm. Faced with insurmountable odds, a team of the world's most skilled and experienced divers -- uniquely able to navigate the maze of flooded, narrow cave tunnels -- join with Thai forces and more than 10,000 volunteers to attempt a harrowing rescue of the twelve boys and their coach. With impossibly high stakes and the entire world watching, the group embarks on their most challenging dive yet, showcasing the limitlessness of the human spirit in the process.

Even if you followed this miraculous rescue on the news, you still do not know the whole story and the heroics and personalities behind it all.

It is so up close and personal that you will feel as exhausted and rung out as the daring rescuers who make everything happen. And because of the exceptional photography, the claustrophobic tunnels will seem to touch you, too, while the shifting rocks will threaten to bury you, snag your scuba tank or lifeline as well. So excellent are the film techniques that you become part of the rescue effort just by watching its dramatic reenactment.

What one critic has mislabeled “a rather plodding rhythm” is, in fact, purposeful. We feel the frustration of the waiting parents who have awakened from their “just bring back my son’s body” fatal dread, to their euphoria at finding them alive, and then the interminable days and nights of waiting to see if they will get their boys back above ground.

We also share this same range of emotions in our divers – giving up time after time, but never really in their hearts. The rain comes down of us too as we watch the determined locals working on their own to stop the water seeping into the cave in what turns out to be a premature and unexpected monsoon season.

Viggo Mortensen (Rick Stanton) is a standout here. He is the Jungian hero who at first resists the call.

Why should he fly hallway around the world for this caper? He doesn’t even like children, he confides to his fellow cave diver John Valanthen (Colin Farrell). In fact, he has been too busy tinkering with the kayaks crowding his apartment like a slumber party that won’t end to even be aware of it.

John: (over phone) Hey, Rich, you following what’s happening in Thailand. Some kids stuck in a cave.
Rick: Yeah. No, not really, Why? How did they get themselves in there?
John: I don’t know. It doesn’t say.
Rick: Well, if they walked in, they can walk out…It’s just a tourist cave.

*Thanks to Move Quotes and More.com for access to quotations.

Both men are “amateur” cave rescuers, and neither is young. Rick is a retired firefighter and John an IT consultant. Despite the governor inviting them into the rescue, they are not welcomed by the Thai Navy SEALs, who are young and think they can handle things without these “old men.”

Part of it is their fear of foreigners dying in the cave. It’s a bad look. But another part of it is territorial and the fact that the governor, who was about to be cashiered out of the province for incompetence, is the one who has invited them. Now, he “gets to stay on,” so if things end in a disaster, as they portend to, they have their fall guy.

Throughout the film Rick is the realist; his buddy John – Colin Farrell, almost unrecognizable as he disappears into his role as a seemingly bland technocrat – the romantic idealist.

Since so much of the film is under water, there is only time for clipped conversations and much must be conveyed by facial expressions and body language. John wants to comfort the boys when they unexpectedly find all twelve as well as their coach alive.

He tells them they will come back for them soon, but the grimace on Rick’s face with just the suggestion of an eye roll, says it all. Later, they talk alone, and he chastises John for promising what he thinks will be impossible.

Rick’s reasoning is sound. These two experts had a tough time making it the 2 ½ miles to where the boys are; how are they going to get the young team back without them panicking under water and drowning?

The rest of the film, in fact, the majority of it, is how they wrestle with what seems an impossible task. You will be riveted to your seat and emotionally exhausted by the end – almost as much as everyone who was actually there.

Ron Howard shows his experience and skill behind the camera here, never letting his film descend into the maudlin or sentimental. Viggo Mortensen assists as only a consummate actor of his quality can, perhaps having some experience of semi mute conveyance of emotions in Eastern Promises: Classic Russian Borscht, where his performance as the inscrutable Nikolai is a work of art.

While Colin Farrell as John, hiding his idealism under his mild demeanor, is an unexpected pleasure from a very talented actor who is also self effacing in real life, as he demonstrated in Crazy Heart: Bad Blake Biscuits, starring Jeff Bridges. As Different Drummer said of that 2009 film:

The final duet, filmed at a Toby Keith concert, features both their real voices. It turns out the Irishman (Colin Farrell) has some singing creds, too. And reality overturns fiction here, where the humble Farrell bows out of screen credit to Bridges, not wanting to eclipse him.

And that is just scratching the surface of this uniformly excellent film.

***

Just when I am about to give up on current cinema, a film like this comes ashore to slap me in the face. It renews our spirits; it makes us believe that inherent goodness still exists.

And in these universally cynical times, we all need to be reminded of that. Immerse yourself in Thirteen Lives and let all that goodness wash over you. You won’t regret it.

–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

The spontaneous trip to the normally safe tourist cave is just a warm up for the birthday party the boys are having that night. The parents are diligently working to set up a wonderful feast, complete with roasted meats, finger food, and some super delicious looking cakes.

Celebrate their miraculous rescue with this deliciously authentic No-Bake Thai Tea Cheesecake.

No Bake Thai Cheesecake

Ingredients

Chocolate Crust

2 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (210 gr)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (25 gr)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (113 gr), melted

Thai Tea Cheesecake

½ cup Thai Tea Mix

3 cups heavy cream (750 ml), divided

3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 gr)

4 sheets gelatin or substitute 1 tablespoon gelatin powder

8 oz cream cheese (225 gr), softened

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Whipped cream, for topping

Instructions

Chocolate Crust

1. In a large bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, sugar, and melted butter until well combined.

2. Press the crumb mixture firmly to a 9-inch/22 cm tart or springform pan. Make sure the thickness of the crust is even and the crumbs on the sides of the pan are flush with the rim. Place in the freezer while proceeding.

Thai Tea Cheesecake

Soak the gelatin sheet in cold water until soft. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat Thai tea, 2 cups heavy cream, and sugar until simmering (not boil). Turn off the heat. Squeeze gelatin to remove any excess water and add it to the pan, stirring constantly until the gelatin is melted.
Steep the tea for 10 minutes before straining it through a fine-mesh strainer. Set aside and let the mixture cool completely.
With a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until stiff peak. Set aside.
With a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk or paddle attachment, mix cream cheese, whipped cream, and vanilla extract until well combined.
Pour the Thai tea mixture into the cream cheese mixture and beat until well combined.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Serve with whipped cream on top, if desired. Serve cold.

JaJa Bakes.com