I watch a fair number of movies on LMN as I spent quite a bit of time in my garage workshop. I like the distraction while I'm detailing cars, sanding woodworking projects, etc. The movies don't have to be all that great, in fact if the movie is too good I don't get much done.
You picked up on problems with this movie. As a retired ranger and avid outdoors man I've taken part in some search and rescues, have traveled in some adverse conditions and tended to people who have been injured or in difficult conditions in the backcountry. The greatest number of incidents involved hypothermia. As I watched I could not believe the number of unreal situations that we were expected to believe. Each new scene brought one, making it hard to keep track of so I started writing them down. In addition to the ones you listed I noted the following:
The couple crashed into the lake and the plane submerged quickly. The couple had to escape from the plane and swim to the surface. They were totally saturated and had to swim to shore, something that would probably take in excess of 20 minutes. The water in a lake like this is likely no warmer than 50 degrees and colder at the depth they presumably escaped. Odds are that they would be unable to control their muscles enough to swim to the shore. Once there they would have had difficulty lighting the fire due to coordination problems. In this situation it would have taken hours for them to dry out and rewarm. Yet we were shown them near a small fire for a short period of time before Alexandra's character decides to walk out to a road.
This brings up the second problem, people need to stay put when they are going to be the subjects of a search and rescue. It is far more difficult to search for a moving target than a fixed one. The lakeshore was a good place where aircraft could spot them with little effort. An experienced pilot who flies over the backcountry would know to stay put.
The next problem is the wolf attacks. There are only two documented wolf attacks in North America, ever. Worldwide wolf attacks are exceedingly rare. Movie producers continue to inaccurately depict wolf behavior that doesn't exist. Doing so creates an image of the animal, one that will attack humans routinely, that is a long way from the truth.
Lastly, the uncle, who was the last to maintain the aircraft before the crash, was allowed to enter the hanger where the plane was being examined. He poked around the remains of the aircraft without anyone observing him or impeding his activity. This is a real hard one to swallow. Physical evidence in any investigation requires what is called "the chain of custody." How the evidence is collected and stored has to documented to show that only those who are directly related to the investigation are allowed to posses or be in control of it. The reassembly of aircraft in a hanger is done under tight security. Yet what we are shown is a open door hanger with the mechanic looking over the parts, a person with a professional, financial and personal stake in the findings of the investigation. Then we are expected to believe that the investigators did not see an obvious problem and that everyone involved could instantly conclude the cause of the crash. Investigations of this type take months and even years to identify a cause.
Oh, and what happened to the predicted forecast of a front moving in that was to bring some showers. I don't remember if snow was mentioned, but one could assume that on Christmas Eve, at the northerly latitude shown, that snow was likely. This would have made the entire scenario much more difficult and dangerous.
I also wonder what the legalities of one partner in a business pulling off the sale of a business when the other partner hasn't even been declared dead yet are. I would assume, and I have little or no knowledge of this, that deals would be on hold and a court monitoring the business during a transition. I think a power of attorney would be in place so that a partner's interest is represented. These are just educated guesses as rather than run a business, I spent my career wearing out the soles of boots while using my brain. A wonderful combination!
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