O Caminho

In this "feel good" movie, Martin Sheen is the principal actor. Emilio Estevez has written, produced, and directed a magnificent film.

The star of this film is "El Camino de Santiago", a 600 kilometer pilgrimage trail from France, down in and through the N. of Spain.

The plot reveals why Martin Sheen feels he must attempt to complete this pilgrimage. Destitute with sorrow he initially shuns companionship along the trail. Circumstances will reveal how he eventually befriends 3 fellow travelers. One actually gets the feeling that this long journey is a joyful experience. The last scene in this movie reveals the entire theme of the movie.

Superb photography within Spain and France, the music reveals itself as it identifies with the visuals. A "must see".

This carefully written road movie drama was directed by Emilio Estevez, who used traditional footage, and laid out the story over a compelling soundtrack with artists such as Tyler Bates, James Taylor and Nick Drake. In brief, we're following Martin Sheen's character Tom during his pilgrimage journey whilst mourning his dead son who died on the same pilgrim route after only one day. Tom meets people along the way who also become his friends, although Tom himself is uninviting. In contrast to the other characters Tom develops throughout the film and goes through the various stages of mourning that come with a great loss such as he suffered. Except from the usual message that people spend too little time reflecting over their life's I think "The Way" makes a good job of describing the strong bond between father and son, and at the same time highlight some problems with that relationship. Some scenes are obviously there to hammer in those two messages and the film would have been even better had they been made more subtle. I do recommend watching this film, and I think it shows that Emilio Estevez' directing skills don't just pertain to "Bobby".

... my sons way. Emilio Estevez has shown on numerous occasions, that he seems to be the more sensible one. Then again comparing him to Charlie Sheen (and his recent outbursts nonetheless) would be unfair to his brother. And while Martin Sheen also took on another surname to make it in Hollywood (Charlie and Martin succeeded), Emilio chose to keep his name, even though it may have blocked some doors for him.

For this movie he reunites with his father (not the first time he's directing him, but the toughest shoot he put him through yet). It's a very personal story about loss and finding one's way. The title is apt then and the journey ahead of the characters may be long, but also very insightful. Great acting and great locations make this a movie that will make you sentimental for sure.

I have looked forward to "the way" since first hearing about it. I heard interviews with Martin Sheen himself and a great double interview with Martin and Emilio on Irish radio. I did a part of the camino in 2009 and It was a life changing/enhancing experience for me so I couldn't wait to see how the film would deal with it. Yesterday I saw the film in the Screen cinema in College Green Dublin. The film is, in my opinion, very true to the camino experience. A previous reviewer trivialised it as "a road movie" and suggested "wizard of Oz" characterisation. The camino "road" has been travelled for over a thousand years. Long before "road movies" were even thought about and yes, any story of fellow travellers sharing their stories on a journey, can be similar to the "wizard of Oz" but I think Chaucers "Canterbury Tales" is probably the true origin of the species. The camino de Santiago in its reality, and in this film, is a wonderful kaleidoscopic confluence of humanity. Pilgrims seem to self-select for certain character traits such as eccentricity, other worldliness, joyfullness, adventurousness, hurt, curiosity etc. Tom's companions were all from the palette of characters I found on the camino. Tom himself was an accidental pilgrim and only at the end of the camino did he allow himself to fall in love with it like the others. Tom, the cynical skeptic, driven to put one foot in front of another as a way of dealing with the brokenness of his relationship with his son and the trauma of his sudden death, allows the distance required to allow viewers share in the journey of the Camino in a way that could not have been achieved by following four "ordinary" pilgrims, no matter how colourful. Tom was the "straight man", the foil, that allowed the full colours of all the other characters to shine through. I thought it was a brilliant piece of cinema. Ole!

I really liked this film. It made me feel good. I loved the beautiful countryside camera shots. Those alone are worthy of National Geographic. The parts between conversations had a calming effect on me along with the soundtrack. I thought Martin Sheen did very well as did the other actors. They all worked so well together and by the end of the movie you could see they spent a lot of time together on the set and honestly got along or so it seemed and thats what made the movie impressive. Wonderful movie to watch with an uplifting vibe and quirky characters with a real bond make this a definite must see. I can actually see myself watching this for a second time and that's rare in films for me. Enjoy !