The Lost Bus was a film I knew pretty much nothing about. Normally this is the sort of film that I would have waited to see it on streaming, however when I discovered that Paul Greengrass was directing it then I changed my mind because I knew that there was a good chance that this was going to be spectacular. It made sense since he directed two of the best of the Jason Bourne films (as well as the final one). The plot is that Matthew McConaughey plays Kevin who is a school bus driver who after the fire starts is tasked with taking some students to a drop off point along with their teacher Mary played by America Ferrera. For most of the film, the action centres around Kevin and Mary as they try and do what seems impossible.
The plot is straightforward and what makes the film work as well as it does is that it has the intensity that it needs to and the sort that is common in Greengrass’ other films such as United 93 and 22 July.
If I had an issue with the film is that the shakey cam is really bad. I dont think that I have seen shakey cam this bad since Monkey Man. I understand that in most of his films. When there is daylight then it works because at least you can see what is happening and so you know how to react. When its dark then there is nothing for me to connect with and there was one scene where people were running around and so there were people and then flames and lights and at one point I couldn’t see anything even though there were things happening. That is it as far as the criticisms go because the film works due to keeping things simple and letting the chemistry between McConaughey and Ferrera drive the story (pardon the pun). It is Kevin’s story so McConaughey is technically the lead but when Ferrara enters the story it feels like they are both equal and to be fair to the kids they also help make this feel tense and you are happy when they manage to escape the smoke.
On the subject of the smoke, the constant shots of smoke and fire and people coughing just kept making me go for my drink and that is a sign of good storytelling. There was a good 40-45 minutes that were totally gripping and it seemed like the scenes where we were out with the fire Marshall’s and the bus depot were there to give us a breather for a few minutes. I also liked the shots where we were flying through the air like we were the fire almost seeing it from its point of view. There were moments mainly at the end where it felt like wheepy melodrama but I felt like the film had earnt this right because of everything that had happened. It did feel like the whole business of Kevin and his son could probably have been left out but I suppose when you are telling a true story or a story based on true events then sometimes you have to leave the less than minor details in.
The Lost Bus was a gamble for me but I am happy to report that this gamble paid off. In the hands of a lesser director then this wouldn’t have had the impact and we might have been left with a story that got bogged down in special effects and characters that weren’t well written but thankfully we got the best of everything. Not sure whether its better on the big screen but I didn’t mind spending my money on a Saturday morning.
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