TV Reviews : Disaster Strikes in ‘White Mile’

Much media focus has been directed recently on those many notorious CEOs who also happen to be outdoor thrill-seekers. So the vaguely fact-based HBO movie “White Mile”--about the disastrous results of a corporate white-water rafting trip--comes along at a trenchant time: It’s “Barbarians at the Gate of Deliverance.”

Alan Alda stars as Dan Cutler, the president of an L.A. ad agency, who invites--nearly coerces, perhaps--his underlings and some clients to come along on brotherhood/bonding adventures out of town. This time, they take to a river in the Canadian Rockies; never mind the Class 5 rapids, or the fact that there are too many weekend warriors--some of them novices--to safely fit in one craft. Those reluctant souls who would rather fly-fish don’t speak up too loudly, lest they be marked as less than tigerish VP prospects.

Disaster strikes, of course, and nearly half the expedition is lost in the fearsome rapids. Back in the urban wilderness, the film focuses on the crisis of conscience of Peter Gallagher, Alda’s loyal right-hand man, who’s considering testifying in a lawsuit filed by the bitter widow of one of the lost men.

Scripter Michael Butler’s setup is full of deft detail that neatly sketches the competitive ad-world backdrop. Alda is scarily convincing as a steely exec, and allows his character mortal shades of heroism, panic and regret in the crisis, if what he finally chooses to be is something other than human.

And in its middle river section, “White Mile” truly is white-knuckle stuff, with editing (by John Duffy) and direction (Robert Butler) that let us feel there really is a raft full of recognizable character actors (including Robert Loggia, Bruce Altman and Dakin Matthews) in literally dire straits.

Only in the third act does the drama grow less compelling, when the courtroom proceedings become predictable. Still, it’s mostly fascinating sailing. And when motivator-in-chief Alda, sitting bloodied on a hospital gurney, recovers his gumption and resumes lecturing to his hires (“You know, there’s a lesson here . . . “), anyone who ever navigated the business rapids may feel the chill of corporate hypothermia.

* “White Mile” premieres at 8 tonight on HBO, with repeats May 24 and 29 and June 1, 6, 9 and 11.