Review: Documentary 'The Alpinist' is hemmed in by a subject who couldn't care less about being in a movie

It’s weird to watch a documentary whose subject so casually and obliviously undercuts the movie being made about him — which is what climber Marc-André Leclerc does throughout “The Alpinist.”

Leclerc is introduced as a free-spirited rock climber, someone who goes up the sides of seemingly unscalable rock faces for the sheer pleasure of doing it. It speaks volumes that the first voice you hear in the film is Alex Honnold — whose exploits up El Capitan were chronicled in “Free Solo” — admiringly describes Leclerc as “so crazy.”

The reason for Honnold’s admiration and astonishment is that Leclerc doesn’t just climb big rocks. He also likes to get up where it’s cold, and climb both ice formations and snowbanks. Such climbs, the experts in the film tell us, are even trickier than Honnold’s rope-free rock climbing, because rocks don’t go anywhere, and ice and snow often do.

When directors Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen (who are co-founders of the Reel Rock Film Tour, a traveling program beloved by adventure-sports fans) get Leclerc in front of a camera, it’s in Squamish, British Columbia, which has a boisterous climber community that Leclerc joined when he left high school. He’s happy to have the crew follow him as he climbs mountains he’s already climbed,  and hangs out with his girlfriend, climber Brette Harrington. But it’s clear he’s climbing for the adventure and exhilaration, not for fame or sponsorships or less-lofty reasons.

At one point, Leclerc tells the filmmakers his one rule for participating: No film crew allowed when he’s making his first attempt up a rock. He wants the experience of that solo climb to be pure and solitary, and having anybody along for the ride — whether they’re helping him or just watching — distracts from that perfect experience.

That’s great for Leclerc’s sense of adventure, but it’s a death sentence for an interesting, authentic documentary. How interested should we, the audience, be that Mortimer (who narrates the film) and Rosen are left with footage of Leclerc’s second climbs up the rocks, when he re-creates the original moment for the benefit of the cameras?

Mortimer and Rosen also take some liberties with the timeline. The most notable instance is when the filmmakers make Leclerc’s climb up Torre Egger — a spindly tower of rock and ice in Patagonia, at the southern tip of South America — the climax of the film, even though it happened before other climbs depicted earlier in the film.

Even with those faults, “The Alpinist” conveys the joy of undiluted adventure Leclerc would get from tackling an ascent for the first time, while also making quite real the dangers inherent in the sport — no matter what the GoPro-wearing thrill seekers will tell you as they make the videos they hope will go viral. Leclerc, it’s clear, never cared about that, which makes a movie about him more compelling and enigmatic.

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‘The Alpinist’

★★★

Opens Friday, September 10, in select theaters. Rated PG-13 for some strong language and brief drug content. Running time: 92 minutes.