Review #1555: The Way.
Cast:
Martin Sheen (Thomas Avery), Deborah Kara Unger (Sarah Marie Sinclair), James Nesbitt (Jack Emerson Stanton), Yorick van Wageningen (Joost Michael de Witt), Emilio Estevez (Daniel Avery), and Tchéky Karyo (Captain Henri Sébastien) Written and Directed by Emilio Estevez.
Review:
"This is a film we believe in. We're proud of it and excited. It was a privilege to be able to make it."
As the old saying goes, the son becomes the father and the father becomes the son. In the case of a film like this, I would say that is adequately appropriate with a feature that stars Martin Sheen directed by his son Emilio. Sheen (born Ramón Estévez before adopting the stage name as an invention to try and make a living with acting, which he described later as one of his great regrets) found his way in acting first from television in the 1960s before finding his way into features through highlights such as Badlands (1973) and Apocalypse Now (1979). As for Emilio, the eldest son, he found interest in working with the camera from a young age, and he aspired to get into acting after graduating high school. He made his debut in 1980 with television before moving into features that led to highlights such as Repo Man (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985) and Young Guns (1988). He moved himself into directing with Wisdom (1986), and he has continued doing a few features alongside work in television from time to time. Estevez was inspired by his own son Taylor and his travel with Sheen across the route through car years prior, with Estevez describing the film as "pro people, pro life — not anti — anything."
This is based on the real life pilgrimage of Camino del Santiago (Way of St. James), where folks follow routes (as there are numerous ones, such as the Camino Frances) to a shrine as a form of spiritual retreat or path for their growth that hundreds of thousands set out to do each year (with an actual office giving out certificates of completion for those who walk on the Camino); various media had been made depicting this journey in some form prior to this film, such as Luis Bunuel's The Milky Way (1969) and the TV program The Naked Pilgrim (2003). Sometimes it is the journey that attracts one more so than the destination. It is an interesting movie that takes a walk for two hours with a small cast headlined by the interest in seeing the result of the son directing the father with honesty and touching interest. It cultivates inspiration for those who seek it without preening for too long in a pilgrimage without becoming an excuse to show off, moving with sensitivity without becoming an excuse for sentimentality or the inverse in cynicism that has a trek reminiscent in some way of The Wizard of Oz (1939) with people that discover something in themselves without needing it spelled out in obviousness. Sheen is exactly the right one to lead the film, settling well on a journey of growth with maturity, going across the road that handles his surroundings with dignity through a 2-hour trek of grief and discovery for himself. The main three that gradually accompany him on the intersecting journey do just fine in their own ways. Unger rolls along with pain and charm wrapped in thorns, while Nesbitt and Wageningen each do well with adding some levity and persistence in curiosity, respectively. It isn't a great film by any means, but it is a nice little journey that aspires for inspiration and interest in one's fellow man, and it takes a well-versed cast to back it up, which has a small ensemble to go with appearances of actual pilgrims and in one scene Romani people. It maintains enough strength in inspiration to deserve a look, particularly if one if yearns to look for a journey of their own.
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