32. The Way

Tom (Martin Sheen) is just your typical almost retired doctor that is out with his buddies playing around a golf.  That is until he gets a phone call from France.  His son, who he hasn't spoken to in ages, died while walking the "El Camino de Santiago" (a pilgrimage walk).  When he gets to France to collect the body he learned that his son died the first day of his voyage during a storm.  He thinks back to the last few conversations he had with his son and decides to take the pilgrimage himself while spreading his son's ashes along the way.

The night before he decides to take the walk he meets Joost (Yorick van Wageningen), a Dutchman taking the pilgrimage to loose weight so his wife will find him attractive again.  The two don't really get along (at least Tom doesn't seem to care for Yoost much) but that doesn't stop Joost from walking with him, telling him all about the Dutch and making him try local cuisine.  When they get separated one night, Tom runs into Canadian Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger) and the two hit it off.  Okay, that last statement was complete sarcasm.  They seem to hate each other from the start and Tom just walks away from the conversation before they can really connect.  Soon Tom runs into Joost again who continues to walk with him.  When the two meet Sarah and Joost offers her drugs to help her sleep at night, she too joins them on their walk.  

Slowly a friendship, well maybe more of bond, seems to happen between the three (or at least Joost and Sarah).  That's when they meet an Irish writer named Jack (James Nesbitt) who is suffering from writers block.  He hopes to walk with the group a little bit of the way in order to get something that will inspire him.  When he learns about Tom's son he tries to get more information about it, but Tom is very hesitant.  In fact, he just seems annoyed with everyone the whole journey.  Finally he explodes on them when he is drunk, telling them everything that is wrong with them, and gets arrested for his drunken behavior.  Luckily the group knows that he is having a difficult time with his son's death and this is when he finally starts being friendly towards them (almost 3/4 of the movie through).  

The movie is a little slow at first, at least it takes a long time for the main character to be somewhat likable.  But it does a good job showing the journey these people make not only physically but emotionally which lets face it pilgrimages are all about.  Now I just really want to go on some sort of long extended walk.  Who's with me?  Appalachian Trail?  Kumano Kodo?  El Camino de Santiago?  You take your pick.

Rating: ***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hy54CpKeqk