Rachel McAdams, who’s always good, slightly strains believability as a savant-dork. She’s kind of doing a Michelle Feiffer in Batman Returns “pretty nerd” thing. Why must “Linda from accounting,” her interpretation of the “Hot Librarian” archetype, also be a slob with food on her face? She manages to keep impeccably fashionable and put-together when (spoiler alert!) she’s stranded on a desert island, and she never gets food on her face again.
What does feel more authentic is her obsession with Survivor and outdoor adventure in general. They used to call the archetype “Lola Granola” but now I guess it’s “Bushcraft Babe?” Anyhoo…
Linda’s desperate to prove herself to her shitty, idiot boss and when the meticulous office work doesn’t do the trick, she’s hoping the survival skills will win his respect. She maintains her blind optimism that there is no glass ceiling or sexism in her bro-culture office. Sam Raimi and company know better. Nepo-baby-boss-boy remains an ungrateful piece of shit the entire time, as the role requires, and completely deserves the Annie Wilkes in Misery-style of treatment. The really fun scenes in Raimi’s getting-back-to-his-roots playset of doom, and there are many, spawn from McAdams’ neediness and eventual unwillingness to help this pipsqueak. You can’t wait for this guy to finally get eaten by a shark or something. Unfortunately, when the film concludes the payoff is lacking. The character’s wants, both contextual and subtextual, lack relief; dissipating with a few sight gags. That doesn’t mean the movie isn’t really, wickedly fun. It is. It just needs to leave a little dessert for the deserted.
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