2025 - THE LOST BUS - based on a true story apparently

Showing up on streaming this month The Lost Bus is one of those based on a true story deals.  The plot concerns the heroic efforts of a school bus driver trying to rescue 22 children trapped in an out of control fire called the "2018 Camp Fire." This was one of the most devastating fires in the history of California.  The driver Kevin McKay is played by a very scruffy looking Matthew McConaughey and the school teacher Mary Ludwig is played by America Ferrera.  Ferrera of course got to deliver that famous feminist speech in the Barbie film.  

 

The film was directed by Paul Greengrass who brings his usual documentary technique film style to tell the story.  Greengrass likes to use handheld cameras which gives the film a sort of immediacy to the storytelling.  The handheld camera has a lot of shaky photography and at times can probably induce motion sickness in a viewer watching all that photographic bouncing around.

The film is good at capturing the terror of the massive fire. The story is apparently true for the most part, so what's the problem?  Well it seems that Greengrass and his screenwriter had decided to add lots of stuff about the personal lives of the bus driver and the teacher.  The bus driver is having problems in his relationship with his son and ex wife.  The school teacher has led a sheltered life and has not really lived an adventurous fulfilling life, blah blah blah.  Why the makers of this film needed to add all of this junk is beyond my understanding.  The circumstance of the school children stuck in a bus which might get consumed by a fire should really have been enough drama.  All this personal lives stuff of the teacher and bus driver just dilutes and drags out the film.

 

The film is well made, Greengrass knows how to stage intense dramatic scenes in this case a forest fire chasing a school bus full of frightened elementary school children.  The Lost Bus is sort of a real life version of The Towering Inferno.

The film was written by Paul Greengrass and Brad Ingelsby, the running time is an overlong 130 minutes.