The Way (2010) – A father travels to Europe to claim the body of his only son, who died on the first day of a pilgrimage through northwestern Spain. On impulse, the father decides to complete the journey for his son. In the end, it becomes a pilgrimage for them both.
Directed by Emilio Estevez Starring Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, James Nesbitt, Deborah Kara Unger, Yorick von Wageningen
Estevez wrote the screenplay with his father in mind. It is a heartfelt and deeply spiritual story of a man trying to come to terms with a son he did not understand and his grief at losing him. Tom Avery (Sheen) is a successful ophthalmologist, who has chosen a life within carefully drawn boundaries. His son, Daniel (Estevez), chooses to live a life outside those boundaries. Once he arrives in Europe he finds himself drawn to finishing what he views as his son’s ridiculous final adventure, to walk El Camino de Santiago.
That pilgrim’s trail through northwestern Spain becomes a character in the movie. Some have criticized the movie because it doesn’t move quickly or it fails to “dramatize” the story. For me, that just shows (much like Tom at the beginning of his journey) that they don’t get what is happening here. Avery starts most of his days on the journey like it is a forced march, something to be completed as quickly as possible. Through the agency of three other pilgrims, he will find many new ways of seeing his world. This story has to take its own sweet time, and “dramatizing” the story would have robbed it of its heartfelt sincerity.
The supporting cast deserves a nod. won Wageningen plays Joost from Amsterdam, a chatty, cheerful sort who quickly gets on Avery’s nerves. Unger is a cynical, angry Canadian who claims to want to be left alone but keeps gravitating towards others. And Nesbitt is a frenetic Irish writer trying to find his muse again. The ensemble meshes beautifully in support of Sheen’s character’s search for his reason to be on the Camino. All of them are searching for more than they know.
Maybe it’s because my relationship with my own father ended too soon, maybe it’s because I’m a father myself. But this movie moved me in a way that few others have done. It is a profoundly spiritual movie while not being particularly preachy or overt. Sheen is a devout Catholic, and this is clearly a labor of love for his family.
Why I Liked It : A profoundly spiritual story that manages to avoid the usual pitfalls of the type.
Why You Will Like It : Four characters you will come to care about, on a wonderful trip.
Rating : **** Reccomended
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