Film review: The Way

Filed Under EN

The Way is a term that is variously referenced in
Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity to describe a spiritual path.
It’s also the title that writer-director Emilio Estevez has
chosen for this film collaboration with his father, Martin
Sheen.

Director: Emilio Estevez
Cast: Martin Sheen, Deborah Kara Unger, James Nesbitt,
Yorick van Wageningen, Emilio Estevez Rating: (PG)
3 stars (out of 5)

Estevez originally conceived an idea for a film honouring the
“El Camino de Santiago” after his son Taylor took part in the
legendary Christian pilgrimage route from the Pyrenees to
Galicia in northwest Spain. When a documentary proposal fell
over, Estevez wrote a dramatic screenplay about modern-day
pilgrims with his father as the lead.

Martin Sheen is Thomas Avery, an American eye specialist
whose comfortable country club existence is rocked with the
news that his son Daniel (Estevez) passed away while walking
the Camino. Travelling to France to collect Daniel, Tom’s
grief causes him to confront his own life, loss, and Daniel’s
free-spirited idealism, which irritated him. After scarcely a
moment of soul searching, Tom arranges Daniel’s cremation,
and with his son’s pack on his back and a box of ashes tied
to the side, he sets off to honour his son by completing the
route.

Tom meets up with three travellers who fortunately inject a
bit of life into the film.

Put together on a minuscule budget, The Way deserves
plaudits for its attention to detail. However, the lack of
anything profound in the script and reliance on well-worn
road movie tropes leave you wishing that the pilgrims would
pick up their speed.

Best thing: The scenery. Estevez really captures the
essence of the small settlements along the route.

Resources

News

Apr

13

Film review: The Way

Comments