The Way (2011)

6.9

Movie

Spain, United States of America
English, French, Spanish
Adventure, Comedy, Drama
2010
EMILIO ESTEVEZ
Ángela Molina, Ángela Molina, Antonio Gil
128 min

What it's about

When his son dies while hiking the famed Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in the Pyrenees, Tom flies to France to claim the remains. Looking for insights into his estranged child’s life, he decides to complete the 500-mile mountain trek to Spain. Tom soon joins up with other travelers and realizes they’re all searching for something.

The take

In “The Way”, an American doctor, Tom (Martin Sheen), travels to Spain to identify the remains of his deceased son (Emilio Estevez, also writer/director) who has died while traveling "El Camino de Santiago”, the famous pilgrimage across Northern Spain. Once there, Tom unexpectedly finds himself inspired to continue his son’s journey, sprinkling his ashes along the lengthy expedition to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, home to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great. Along the way Tom gains several unlikely traveling companions: a Dutchman (Yorick van Wageningen), a Canadian (Deborah Kara Unger) and an Irishman (James Nesbitt), each of whom has his/her own personal reasons for making the pilgrimage, with each adding various degrees of drama and humor to the proceedings as well. A touching and inspiring film marred a bit by some unnecessarily roughly-hewn characterizations, but overall a pleasant experience with a warm feeling of adventure and camaraderie throughout.

Comments

Terrible. Don’t waste your time.

Add a comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Falling in Love Like in Movies (2023)

A contemplative Indonesian romance film that rewrites and re-examines the genre’s conventions

8.4

Blind Date Book Club (2024)

A perfectly saccharine bookstore romance for light viewing

7.5

River (2023)

A delightful and ultimately life-affirming Japanese time loop comedy clearly made with love

8.8

Yannick (2023)

Quentin Dupieux interrogates his audience in this hour long hostage situation

7.4

Scoop (2024)

A gripping and illuminating dramatization of a landmark interview from the creator of The Crown

7.4

Fast & Feel Love (2022)

Speed stacking makes a comeback in this surprisingly funny film

7.0

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending

8.2

I Lost My Body (2019)

The Oscar-nominated unconventional animation

8.2

Camille Claudel (1988)

Isabelle Adjani descends into madness in this stirring biopic of the titular genius sculptor that died in obscurity

7.0

Incendies (2011)

Part melodrama, part war thriller, Incendies is gorgeous and heartbreaking from the first scene

9.9

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.