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The Way
(2010)
 
Review
For
the third time in a row as a director, Emilio Estevez casts his father
Martin Sheen in a lead role and himself supporting him. This time Sheen
plays a somewhat narrow-minded 60-something who, upon learning that his
searching son (Estevez) has died in an accident on the Camino de
Santiago, a famous pilgrimage route in Northern Spain, decides to finish
the walk his son embarked on - and is forced to learn something about
himself in the process. Explicitly The Way is a homage to the act
of pilgrimage; implicitly it advocates spirituality and unity. There is
not much of a script, however, so Estevez relies heavily on the
development of a friendship between four unlikely partners to drive the
film forward. These characters and the interpersonal relationship
between them alternates between charming and unconvincing all through
the film. Some segments feel authentic and vibrant, others bordering on
vapid, not helped by some uncritical use of music for effect. But what
they have in common is the heart in the right place. And there is
nothing wrong with Estevez' intentions here, even if he ultimately
hasn't got quite enough to communicate to make up a whole film.
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