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.
Review of The Way
