The Weight
Review by Mark Woodring
In the depths of the Great Depression, millions of lives were upended in all ways imaginable: financial, geographical, personal…
Families often “sold off” their children to people who would be able to take care of them, regardless of age. The stories are endless.
So, too, did people lose their children through the legal system as the result of circumstances often beyond their control.
It is this tack The Weight takes to drive our story forward.
**NOTE: Read Mark’s review below, and remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
115 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Matthew Booi, Shelby Gaines, Leo Scherman
Directed by Padraic McKinley
Synopsis:
Desperate to save what is left of his family, during the height of the Great Depression a battle-scarred veteran is hired to help smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness.
Ethan Hawke’s Murphy ends up in jail and his daughter goes into a state home after an encounter and altercation with plainclothes police.
In prison, he ends up working a road crew under warden Clancy (Russell Crowe), who takes a liking to him for using his intellect to solve problems that arise. Murphy likes working under Clancy because of the warden’s policies toward earning early release, which would allow him to return to his daughter before she ends up in a worse situation than she already is.
Clancy approaches Murphy about helping a miner friend of his a few hours away in a job which requires intelligence and discretion, but which would end in his immediate release.
Murphy, along with 3 other inmates, agrees to move hundreds of pounds of gold from a mine before it can be seized by FDR’s government as part of the New Deal. A five day hike through the Oregon woods under the watchful eye of two of the mine’s security men leads to personality conflicts, conflicts between convicts and the security, and the unexpected addition of a woman from the mining camp desperate to escape that life.
The Weight feels like a throwback film, maybe something from the early 2000s or even late 1990s when period, “prestige” pieces would release in anticipation of awards season. It’s well written, well shot, impeccably acted, and sumptuous in its feel.
Ethan Hawke turns in yet another awards-worthy performance as a tortured father, and Crowe fills the screen as the apparently good-hearted warden. The supporting cast never gets lost around either of the leads, which provides a great ensemble feel to the film.
Definitely see this one in theaters. It’s the kind of film we all really want to be there instead of sequel after sequel after money-grab.
Make sure The Weight doesn’t get lost in the wilderness of your local multiplex.
The Weight hits theaters Friday, September 18, and stars Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaard Tonnnesen, Sam Hazeldine, and George Burgess.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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