Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ski Trial Documentary Is No Fun

An Oscar-winning actress and lifestyle entrepreneur collides with a retired optometrist on a Utah ski slope. The optometrist sues, claiming a life-altering brain injury. Not so fast, says the starlet; it was his fault, and she countersues, seeking damages of… one dollar. The media, not surprisingly, laps it up, covering the ensuing trial with a breathless gravity best reserved for just about anything else.

Imagine what the Gwyneth Paltrow/Terry Sanderson story might yield from someone with a sense of mischief or humor, a Tom Wolfe or a Rachel Kushner or a Nick Broomfield. Instead, for now anyway, we’ll have to settle for Gwyneth vs. Terry: The Ski Crash Trial, a quick-and-dirty, one-hour documentary from Discovery+ that relates the tale with unblinking efficiency, a studied lack of wit, and the kind of detail one could find almost anywhere. Originally announced as a docuseries, the finished product has a tossed-off, “Oh, hell, let’s just get this out there” feel. This is serious business. You, in the back. Stop smiling.

The crash in question occurred in 2016 at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. Sanderson filed suit in 2019, and the trial went down earlier this year. Paltrow was found not at fault by a jury that deliberated for just two hours. In the doc, we hear Sanderson’s side of the story, then Paltrow’s, each garnished with observations from doctors, lawyers, talking legal heads, a juror, and others. One expert source is identified as an “attorney and Youtuber.” The trial was filmed in full, so at least we get copious highlights of what was frankly a pretty bland affair, distinguished mostly by Paltrow’s forthright demeanor and grace under pressure. You get the feeling she’s been on camera before.

Sanderson’s injury claims shouldn’t be belittled, although photos used by the defense of him looking happy and healthy after the collision, traveling and cycling and river rafting, apparently led the jury to doubt whether his wellbeing had been upended by the incident. But the whole thing, from the fashionistas gushing over Paltrow’s smart outfits (check that cream turtleneck) to the BBC (yes, the BBC) intoning updates on the proceedings, seems ripe for some kind of satire on 21^st-century life (Taylor Swift was even dragged into this mess). London’s Awkward Productions has staged a camp/drag take on the incident, Gwyneth Goes Skiing, that is sold out for the rest of December (sorry, tourists).

The reason why Gwyneth vs. Terry has no interest in tweaking the celebrity content machine is pretty clear: the documentary is very much a part of that machine. If only it weren’t such a perfunctory part. There’s no urgency or joy in craft evident here, and nothing resembling a point of view. Gwyneth vs. Terry is fastidiously fair and dry as plain toast, a dutiful recounting of the basic record occasionally interrupted by someone opining that Terry was wronged, or Gwyneth performed so well. It is, in short, a snooze.

But at least it’s a short snooze. It’s hard to imagine the process by which this exercise could have been expanded beyond its current parameters, at least not without becoming something it clearly has no interest in being. That is, a film with a personality. Gwyneth vs. Terry is guaranteed to upset absolutely nobody. Merry Christmas to all, and remember to look both ways.          

An Oscar-winning actress and lifestyle entrepreneur collides with a retired optometrist on a Utah ski slope. The optometrist sues, claiming a life-altering brain injury. Not so fast, says the starlet; it was his fault, and she countersues, seeking damages of… one dollar. The media, not surprisingly, laps it up, covering the ensuing trial with a breathless gravity best reserved for just about anything else.

Imagine what the Gwyneth Paltrow/Terry Sanderson story might yield from someone with a sense of mischief or humor, a Tom Wolfe or a Rachel Kushner or a Nick Broomfield. Instead, for now anyway, we’ll have to settle for Gwyneth vs. Terry: The Ski Crash Trial, a quick-and-dirty, one-hour documentary from Discovery+ that relates the tale with unblinking efficiency, a studied lack of wit, and the kind of detail one could find almost anywhere. Originally announced as a docuseries, the finished product has a tossed-off, “Oh, hell, let’s just get this out there” feel. This is serious business. You, in the back. Stop smiling.

The crash in question occurred in 2016 at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. Sanderson filed suit in 2019, and the trial went down earlier this year. Paltrow was found not at fault by a jury that deliberated for just two hours. In the doc, we hear Sanderson’s side of the story, then Paltrow’s, each garnished with observations from doctors, lawyers, talking legal heads, a juror, and others. One expert source is identified as an “attorney and Youtuber.” The trial was filmed in full, so at least we get copious highlights of what was frankly a pretty bland affair, distinguished mostly by Paltrow’s forthright demeanor and grace under pressure. You get the feeling she’s been on camera before.

Sanderson’s injury claims shouldn’t be belittled, although photos used by the defense of him looking happy and healthy after the collision, traveling and cycling and river rafting, apparently led the jury to doubt whether his wellbeing had been upended by the incident. But the whole thing, from the fashionistas gushing over Paltrow’s smart outfits (check that cream turtleneck) to the BBC (yes, the BBC) intoning updates on the proceedings, seems ripe for some kind of satire on 21^st-century life (Taylor Swift was even dragged into this mess). London’s Awkward Productions has staged a camp/drag take on the incident, Gwyneth Goes Skiing, that is sold out for the rest of December (sorry, tourists).

The reason why Gwyneth vs. Terry has no interest in tweaking the celebrity content machine is pretty clear: the documentary is very much a part of that machine. If only it weren’t such a perfunctory part. There’s no urgency or joy in craft evident here, and nothing resembling a point of view. Gwyneth vs. Terry is fastidiously fair and dry as plain toast, a dutiful recounting of the basic record occasionally interrupted by someone opining that Terry was wronged, or Gwyneth performed so well. It is, in short, a snooze.

But at least it’s a short snooze. It’s hard to imagine the process by which this exercise could have been expanded beyond its current parameters, at least not without becoming something it clearly has no interest in being. That is, a film with a personality. Gwyneth vs. Terry is guaranteed to upset absolutely nobody. Merry Christmas to all, and remember to look both ways.