A tense, old school thriller
Film critic Jason Evans has made it his mission to tell you everything you need to know about movies faster than it takes to pick up a heavy backpack. His reviews are exactly 100 words long (because 99 would leave you unfulfilled, but 101 would be excessive). Here is his 100-word review of The Weight.
The Premise: Samuel
Murphy (Ethan Hawke) is a single father and hard-working man who just cannot
get a break during the height of the 1930s great depression. When a misunderstanding
lands him in jail doing hard labor, he faces the real possibility that his
daughter will be taken from him by the state. The prison warden (Russell Crowe)
says he can get Murphy out… if Murphy does him a favor. The warden needs to
secretly move a stash of gold bars across the Oregon wilderness. He tells
Murphy to pick a few fellow inmates he trusts for the job and if they get it
done without losing a single gold bar, they will all be set free. But moving a
fortune of gold is not easy, especially when there are people willing to kill
to get it. The film is directed by longtime Hollywood editor Padriac McKinley
in his directorial debut.
The 100-Words: A tense,
western thriller in the woods. Hawke brings his trademark humanity and gravity
to the film and is front-and-center in every scene. While he likely won’t earn
another Oscar nomination here, he continues to prove he is one of his
generation’s finest. The supporting cast is also strong and the lush Oregon
wilderness provides the perfect landscape for this story. The script is a
little thin and simplistic -- that’s what holds this back from real awards
consideration – but this is a good time at the movies and the kind of flick we
don’t get enough of these days.
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