It was slow, but I stuck with it because the bottom line is that I enjoyed it. Having said that, it was missing something that left me frustrated and wanting.
I need to know a little more about the characters in order to care about them or at least understand them better. Who was the son? One reviewer mentioned that he was nearly 40, but in real life he would be more like 50. Did he have a family? If he was a doctoral student, where did he get the money to go traveling? Clearly Sheen was living an honorable and productive life, yet there was no sign that his son respected that at all, based upon the one conversation they had. Are we supposed to think that the son's life choices were the cool ones and the dad was an uptight loser? Or just that the dad needed to accept his son for who he was? It would have helped to have Sheen make one definitive statement about this one way or the other at the end perhaps. Something like, "I'm proud of the life I have chosen, but I do recognize that Daniel was driven by different passions. I only wish he could have combined them with a steady job and a family." Who were these other people? I'm o.k. with the stereotypes, because often people do fit the norms of the place they come from. But I need a little more information about each one. This could have come in the form of one more substantial exchange of their back story from each one, or even some scenario that demonstrated what they were about.
You have to tell me how the son died on the route. I didn't see any dangerous cliffs or wild animals. How could one night of cold weather have killed him? It was just too weird without an explanation.
It might have been interesting to have one fellow pilgrim be a young person. These were all middle aged people and one old guy. A young person may have added a fresh sense of wonder and reminded the others of that part of themselves from their own youth.
As one other reviewer said, I don't believe that a chain smoker, a fat guy, and an old man could do this walk without any training first. I also didn't see any evidence of blisters or soreness. But it's just a movie, so I'm o.k. with it.
The guitar music was sometimes a bit too much and a tad manipulative. I did feel like some of the scenes were bonking you over the head with sentimentalism, and that's partially because of the music.
But the dialog was good, the down-to-earth performances valuable, and the scenery enjoyable. I agree with another reviewer that Estevez does not really present any unique cinematography in terms of the nature or people, but some scenes were done quite well. Particularly the punch, and the theft.
Ultimately it doesn't matter if St. James or Christianity are the actual "Way." It only matters that pilgrims feel that they are. Although most of our characters are secular, they may have residual spirituality left over from childhood, and everyone needs hope.
It may be that Sheen and the woman changed the most from start to finish. The woman was a little less angry, and Sheen was a little less rigid in his evaluation of life and people.
I need to know a little more about the characters in order to care about them or at least understand them better. Who was the son? One reviewer mentioned that he was nearly 40, but in real life he would be more like 50. Did he have a family? If he was a doctoral student, where did he get the money to go traveling? Clearly Sheen was living an honorable and productive life, yet there was no sign that his son respected that at all, based upon the one conversation they had. Are we supposed to think that the son's life choices were the cool ones and the dad was an uptight loser? Or just that the dad needed to accept his son for who he was? It would have helped to have Sheen make one definitive statement about this one way or the other at the end perhaps. Something like, "I'm proud of the life I have chosen, but I do recognize that Daniel was driven by different passions. I only wish he could have combined them with a steady job and a family." Who were these other people? I'm o.k. with the stereotypes, because often people do fit the norms of the place they come from. But I need a little more information about each one. This could have come in the form of one more substantial exchange of their back story from each one, or even some scenario that demonstrated what they were about.
You have to tell me how the son died on the route. I didn't see any dangerous cliffs or wild animals. How could one night of cold weather have killed him? It was just too weird without an explanation.
It might have been interesting to have one fellow pilgrim be a young person. These were all middle aged people and one old guy. A young person may have added a fresh sense of wonder and reminded the others of that part of themselves from their own youth.
As one other reviewer said, I don't believe that a chain smoker, a fat guy, and an old man could do this walk without any training first. I also didn't see any evidence of blisters or soreness. But it's just a movie, so I'm o.k. with it.
The guitar music was sometimes a bit too much and a tad manipulative. I did feel like some of the scenes were bonking you over the head with sentimentalism, and that's partially because of the music.
But the dialog was good, the down-to-earth performances valuable, and the scenery enjoyable. I agree with another reviewer that Estevez does not really present any unique cinematography in terms of the nature or people, but some scenes were done quite well. Particularly the punch, and the theft.
Ultimately it doesn't matter if St. James or Christianity are the actual "Way." It only matters that pilgrims feel that they are. Although most of our characters are secular, they may have residual spirituality left over from childhood, and everyone needs hope.
It may be that Sheen and the woman changed the most from start to finish. The woman was a little less angry, and Sheen was a little less rigid in his evaluation of life and people.