The story
of The Way Back, from the book A Long Walk, has been disputed,
refuted and unproven over the years but it remains a story that
captures the imagination. Escaping from a Siberian gulag and walking
4000 miles through cold, mountains and desert to reach freedom in
India is an epic and treacherous feat that Weir plays out for a sense
of adventure and heroism. But it doesn’t ring true, he’s made
great movies but this isn’t one of them. The prison scenes at the
start are the best besides some of the landscape shots further on but
the journey itself unfolds with no real surprise or shock. Whether
it’s harrowing, awe inspiring, fraught with danger or dehydration
you can’t help but inwardly shrug your shoulders a little bit. For
me the pan national gang of escapees which conveniently allowed Ed
Harris as an American lead in what is a Polish mans fable rings
hollow, as does having Colin Farrell as a Russian criminal. I
understand the need to use big names to sell a movie but this would
have benefited a lot more from some strange faces. I kind of gave up
when Saoirse Ronan appeared as a stray waif in the mountains. The joy
at the end when they reach India mirrored the sweet relief felt as
the credits rolled.
(2/5)
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