The Way follows a grieving father along a Spain-France border walking trail that seems to be well known among the backpacking community.
It is probably a travel documentary foremost with character development and travel stories included to put some meat on the bones of the basic concept. It is a pretty good concept in my opinion and works well on the big screen. I had not been to the cinema in around 6 years so this was a good re-introduction. Plus I avoided the crowds of The Avengers which has been released in Australia at the same time as The Way.
The Sheens prominence in the film interested me, I remember enjoying Men at Work which as it turns out is also directed by Emilio Estevez. Martin Sheen doesn't have a huge number of lead performances to his name so I enjoyed him having the lead role here. I think the directing might be a bit on the amateur side as my disbelief was not suspended on a number of occasions, most notably where James Nesbitt's character is introduced. The character itself, until towards the end comes across as being right out of a movie rather than a real person although I don't know who is to blame for that (the writer, actor or director?). Sheen's character did not look sleep deprived despite having consecutive nights of very little sleep which detracted from the realism.
The film has some minor flaws but the scenery alone is enough to make the film worth watching. I imagine that the film was probably more fun to make that it is to watch and I think this carries through with the actors. Altogether a successful film from the Estevezes/Sheens and I hope they do more while Martin is still in good physical and mental shape (he will be 72 in a few months at the time of writing).
It is probably a travel documentary foremost with character development and travel stories included to put some meat on the bones of the basic concept. It is a pretty good concept in my opinion and works well on the big screen. I had not been to the cinema in around 6 years so this was a good re-introduction. Plus I avoided the crowds of The Avengers which has been released in Australia at the same time as The Way.
The Sheens prominence in the film interested me, I remember enjoying Men at Work which as it turns out is also directed by Emilio Estevez. Martin Sheen doesn't have a huge number of lead performances to his name so I enjoyed him having the lead role here. I think the directing might be a bit on the amateur side as my disbelief was not suspended on a number of occasions, most notably where James Nesbitt's character is introduced. The character itself, until towards the end comes across as being right out of a movie rather than a real person although I don't know who is to blame for that (the writer, actor or director?). Sheen's character did not look sleep deprived despite having consecutive nights of very little sleep which detracted from the realism.
The film has some minor flaws but the scenery alone is enough to make the film worth watching. I imagine that the film was probably more fun to make that it is to watch and I think this carries through with the actors. Altogether a successful film from the Estevezes/Sheens and I hope they do more while Martin is still in good physical and mental shape (he will be 72 in a few months at the time of writing).