The Great Alone

Although centered on the Iditarod dogsled race (1,000 grueling miles in Alaska from Anchorage to Nome), Greg Kohs's documentary is a hybrid of sports-endurance drama and a gothic tale of family dysfunction, divorce, hardship, and addiction in very cold places. Lance Mackey is the son of famed 1970s Iditarod champ/pioneer Dick Mackey, described here as a distant, uninterested father who knew more about what was going on with his dogs than his sons. Lance went through periods of extensive boozing and drugging, worked the famously dangerous (but lucrative) Arctic fishing boat circuit, survived a cancer ordeal, and rather surprisingly (considering all of the emotional baggage) took up the Iditarod challenge himself. Somewhat symbolically, Lance assembled a sled team of true underdogs—unwanted mushers of no pedigree that he claims to have found roaming the streets. Even after a dramatic Iditarod victory, the younger Mackey says he still had to prove himself as more than a fluke, ultimately delivering a stunning streak of consecutive wins. Lance eventually echoes his father, noting that he's more at home with his cherished canines than with human relationships. An intriguing profile, this is highly recommended. (C. Cassady)