The Way Back

Veteran Aussie director Peter Weir isn’t the most prolific when it comes to output. This is his first film since 2003 and it follows the pattern of a high percentage of his recent films: watchable, but not as great as his earlier efforts. This isn’t a slight on Weir himself, most directors’ end up chasing their tail in the end trying to recapture that magic touch. As for the subject matter, the film is based on the book The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz, a Polish POW in a Siberian Gulag, which tells the supposedly true story of Rawicz and a number of other prisoners who escaped from the prison and their 4000 mile walk to freedom into India. I say supposed as there have been rumours cast on the veracity of Rawicz’s account. Regardless of that, let’s just look at the film on a standalone basis. The first thing to say is that yes, much like that gag about The Lord Of The Rings, this is basically a film about people walking. Interestingly Weir doesn’t try to liven things up a bit by throwing many scenes of peril into the mix, but there is, unsurprisingly, a lot of hardship. In effect this is more a character study than a story of derring-do. The good news being that Weir is well aware of this and, despite some very dodgy accents, gets decent performances from the cast. This is crucial in a film like this as unless you are emotionally involved with the protagonists and their plight for survival then the film will become a very long watch indeed. The main actors are an eclectic mix (Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris and Saoirse Ronan) each bringing something to the role of their very different characters. There are a few problems though. The tone of the film is uneven at times and in some scenes it’s unclear whether we should be guiltily laughing at black comedy or reacting with horror. Throw in a few historical inaccuracies as well and the fact that this film certainly doesn’t whizz by and you basically have a choice to make. If you’re interested in this story and know what to expect, then you shouldn’t get too fidgety in your seat. If this doesn’t look like your cup of tea, then just keep on walking.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
At times hard work, but the plus points outweigh the negative and a new Weir film is always an event no matter what. Rating: 6/10