Review of The Way (2010) by Mike C — 21 Apr 2012

I feel like I shouldn't like this movie for one reason or another. Maybe it's the idea of a pilgrimage, maybe it's the cliched story of finding yourself on a journey, or maybe it's the contrived conflicts that move along the story. But those things are easy enough to get past. Instead of disliking it, I quite like it. It's kind of the reason I watch movies.

It's the story of an established American eye doctor finding himself in a foreign land. He does not understand his son, played by writer/director/son of Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, who would rather travel the world and live than seek a professional lifestyle. When that character dies on the 500 mile El Camino de Santiago in Europe, the eye doctor decides to finish it for his son. Despite wanting to go it alone, Sheen runs across three other characters, going through their own struggles.

The characters/actors are the strong point of the film. Estevez has had a solid career in many ways. I own Bobby, which he wrote and directed, but it's nothing overly great. Nor is this, per se, but it's good enough. So while his storytelling is slow but effective, his characters carry you through the movie. They are just pretty damn good characters, finely played by some lesser-known actors. The woman who left an abusive husband. The Dutchman trying to lose weight. The Irish writer. While their introductions into the story were a bit weak and contrived, once they were in the story, they definitely belonged there.

The movie works because there are some truths. There is not a lot of truth in explosions, sexy clothes, and all the other nonsense that pollutes blockbuster-type movies. Even when the storytelling is weak in this movie, such as when the Irishman makes his introduction, that's just a small blip on the way to great character development and plot. Sheen could have walked the trail by himself, and that might have made a fine movie. The three characters, however, bring virtues like patience and friendship to the table. And quite well. I thought a couple of the more powerful scenes were the drunken blowup and subsequent arrest, and the night in the fancy hotel. In the first, the group stays tight even as tensions rise. So often in life, it's easier to just walk away. But we're not perfect, and most things can be forgiven. Then, in the hotel, I thought it rather touching the idea that four strangers from various corners of the world could be so connected. Eh, it's just a movie, but the acting made it believable, and I think humanity could aspire to that type of behavior a little more often.

Finally, I think this movie will make you want to make the trip. Much like Hemingway did with his books about Spain and France, this movie will make you yearn for the European countryside. And, much like Hemingway, it's a nice story about people quietly suffering. The old man who fought the sharks at sea and the tourists who could never understand it. The man reading the newspaper after his wife and child have just died. We all have our struggles. This is a nice movie where people made a positive out of their struggles.