180 Degrees South *
In a nutshell: Narcissistic trust-funder with connections at Patagonia (the business, certainly not the place) wants to make a movie about himself modeled after a long ago trip that a couple of as-yet-to-be multi-millionaires took in a Dodge van in 1968 to climb a mountain and surf (reference: Mountain of Storms). Dude hitches a ride on an expensive boat because it’s far more glamorous than a shitty Dodge van, surfs a little, finds a chick to bone, strokes his beard and waxes rhapsodic. When he finally gets to the mountain he is told in not so many words that he knows fuck-all about mountain climbing, fails in what can only be described as ridiculous fashion and goes home. Beautiful cinematography is interspersed with interviews of bitter, incredibly wealthy old men whose primary interest in life now seems to be telling other people how to live theirs.
**I've had shitloads of people ask me about the Jeff Johnson in this movie. I don't know him. I'm sure he's a nice guy with good intentions, but the Jeff Johnson I know is a better mountaineer, better sailor, better surfer and I'm sure spends far less time looking at himself in the mirror than the Jeff Johnson in this movie.