Shackleton

This exemplary docudrama chronicles the exploits of early 20th-century adventurer Ernest Shackleton (Kenneth Branagh), who failed spectacularly in his first attempt to mount an expedition to Antarctica and staked his reputation on a second. Though Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and Briton Robert Falcon Scott conquered the South Pole in 1911, in 1914 Shackleton continues to fundraise for a cross-country trip through Antarctica. His proposal elicits scorn from the conservative Royal Geographic Society, so Shackleton courts private investors and makes deals with the Daily Chronicle and a newsreel company, woefully neglecting his family in the process. A Scotti...