★★☆☆☆
Dir. Dominic Sena. 2009. R. 96mins. Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt.
Kate Beckinsale is about as convincing a U.S. Marshal as Joan Crawford is a loving mother. But like that megastar of yesteryear, she gets a helluva terrific entrance in the Antarctica-set murder mystery Whiteout. Tracked from behind through XY-chromosome–occupied hallways, she’s soon stripping out of her subzero temperature finery for a “tastefully” obscured hot shower. Little else in this tepid and obvious whodunit can compete, save the ever-reliable Tom Skerritt’s way-of-the-samurai composure as a comic-book-monikered M.D., John Fury.—Keith Uhlich