WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Greenland, now available on premium video on demand.
As Greenland ensues and fragments of a comet start destroying key cities on Earth, John Garrity (Gerard Butler) and his family struggle to stay together. The structural engineer, Allison and their son, Nathan, are all selected for a special bunker in Greenland, but the military kicks them out after discovering Nathan's asthma.
This leads to a tragic separation, but no matter what, they're all resilient, intent on clawing their way back to each other. It culminates in a meeting at Dale's (Allison's dad) farm in the final act, but while this delivers the film's most heartbreaking moment, it also brings its worst.
John's been through it all, escaping mobs and a truck crash, knowing he has a target on his hand, literally. People want his wristband because it could allow them military passage to the bunker, but he has to stay low to find his family. Meanwhile, Allison and Nathan escape a psycho of their own, luckily escaping to Dale's farm outside Lexington, Kentucky, a temporary but safe haven.
There, the tension's high as Dale hates John, who got word they were heading there, for cheating on Allison years ago. However, they've worked out their marriage issues with the apocalypse looming, and when John gets intel on the bunker in Greenland and illegal flights that could take them, he wants to take his family. They pack the truck to go to Canada to make the trek, but Dale refuses to go. He tells Allison it would feel like abandoning her mom, who died at the home. Dale promised her he would also die there, so it's a very emotional moment.
But this situation requires an exception because he should be focusing on Nate. His grand-son adores him and Dale knows there are so many dangers out there. With everything going on, surely his beloved wife would excuse him for wanting to go take care of the family. He even lies to Nate, telling him he'll be alright and the meteors won't destroy the planet. But it's risky to give the boy that false sense of hope, especially since it just adds to the kid's trauma.
Nate's a science buff and he knows Dale's lying, so the story would have been more sentimental if Dale decided to protect the kid and honor his wife by watching over Allison and John. And the fact they don't try to convince him and just leave him there to die just adds to the scene's lunacy. After all, the theme of the movie is family and Dale knows people out there will kill his family in order to get on the plane themselves, which makes his sacrifice pretty selfish in the end.
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh and starring Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Roger Dale Floyd and Scott Glenn, Greenland is now available on premium video on demand.
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