Review of The Way (2010) by Kitty W — 16 Nov 2011

Ever since I have had control of my own life I have lived it with the sense of not ever wanting to look back and say I wish I had taken that opportunity, I wish I had gone on that adventure, I wish I have not let that event pass by. That is the reason I am where I am today. That is the reason I packed up and moved from the Midwest to New York without knowing anyone, packed up and left New York for Boulder with a friend and left Boulder with another friend for Prescott, then back to Boulder alone only to leave for Hawaii with a boyfriend, finally packing up and leaving Hawaii for California with my husband. Even through all these adventures, as they were certainly adventures, after seeing "The Way" by Emilio Estevez I feel compelled to do something that would profoundly impact my life. Do the impossible; hike the Appalachian Trail, swim the English Channel, or better yet walk the The Camino de Santiago. Yes, "The Way" for me was more than a wonderful story of a man finally learning that living a successful life is not exactly experiencing a full life. It was a profound statement on what we are missing by moving through our lives with the barest of understanding that "the life we live and the life we choose" need not be the same. The life we live is the easy route, however, choosing a different route can be difficult but the lessons we may learn and the growth we may experience might have a profound impact on who we actually are. "The Way" is a wonderful film, one that, at the very least, will inspire you to travel through that beautiful country between France and Spain along The Camino de Santiago, to experience your own sense of spirituality as it certainly is not a requirement to be a Catholic or a Christian to experience the spirituality of this trek. It will want you to go out and meet some new quirky friends and share a profound moment with them. This was a wonderful film, I don't understand how anyone can give it a bad review, are those reviewers so full of themselves they believe their own existence is profound? Those poor souls. Anyone who cannot walk out of this movie feeling like there is more in this life to experience needs to stop, close their eyes, take a deep breath, let their worries fall off their shoulders on the exhale, open their eyes and look up at the sky like it was the first time they have seen it. Look at the world in a new way, do something unexpected, get out of the routine and experience, experience, experience something new. But first go see "The Way.

"The Way" (2011) Written and Directed by Emilio Estevez.

Starring: Martin Sheen, Deborah Kara Unger, Yorik Van Wageningen, James Nesbitt, Techkey Karyo, Emilio Estevez.