The Way (2010)
A charming movie that skirts around religious intentions and mixes in some good human tenderness and friendship. It's a feel-good movie for sure, following four hikers who meet by accident on the road to Santiago de Compostela, or the St. James Way. This is a pilgrimage road that many people have been rediscovering over the last thirty years (it's frankly threatened to become overrun with walkers). The distance varies depending on where you start, but can easily be 500 miles.
So people who undertake this for whatever reason do so seriously. It's not a lighthearted enterprise (and if you look online there are 10 reasons not to do it, reminding walkers that much of the trip is near roadways and a very modern Spain). But this movie romanticizes the heck out of it, and it makes it all a feel-good experience. There may be no particular revelations, human or spiritual, here, but it's fun to get to know the people as they open up to one another.
The main figure is Martin Sheen, who carries with him (on an impulse, as you'll see) the ashes of his son. Bereavement is written all over him, and he tries to find meaning in life beyond the golfing and ophthalmology left behind for this trip. This plot idea takes a twist because the director is Sheen's son, Emilio Estevez (who also appears briefly).
There is a little travelogue aspect here, and a little filler (like the whole section with the gypsies), but it's all pretty and easy to watch. And the best of it is sweet without being saccharine.
A charming movie that skirts around religious intentions and mixes in some good human tenderness and friendship. It's a feel-good movie for sure, following four hikers who meet by accident on the road to Santiago de Compostela, or the St. James Way. This is a pilgrimage road that many people have been rediscovering over the last thirty years (it's frankly threatened to become overrun with walkers). The distance varies depending on where you start, but can easily be 500 miles.
So people who undertake this for whatever reason do so seriously. It's not a lighthearted enterprise (and if you look online there are 10 reasons not to do it, reminding walkers that much of the trip is near roadways and a very modern Spain). But this movie romanticizes the heck out of it, and it makes it all a feel-good experience. There may be no particular revelations, human or spiritual, here, but it's fun to get to know the people as they open up to one another.
The main figure is Martin Sheen, who carries with him (on an impulse, as you'll see) the ashes of his son. Bereavement is written all over him, and he tries to find meaning in life beyond the golfing and ophthalmology left behind for this trip. This plot idea takes a twist because the director is Sheen's son, Emilio Estevez (who also appears briefly).
There is a little travelogue aspect here, and a little filler (like the whole section with the gypsies), but it's all pretty and easy to watch. And the best of it is sweet without being saccharine.