Introduction
You frequently hear the term “they don’t make ’em like they used to” when it comes to modern film. Padraic McKinley’s The Weight attempts to blow that notion out of the water with a down-and-dirty adult drama that is never anything less than fully captivating. The film is very obvious in its inspirations. Drawing from the basic plot points and tension of The Wages of Fear (1953) and Sorcerer (1977), while maintaining a Southern Gothic style of Cool Hand Luke (1967) without an ounce of levity. But it’s not just an homage to a series of great films; this film exists as the logical extension of those films without directly trying to be. That’s a fine line to walk, but the film does it brilliantly.
Synopsis
Ethan Hawke stars as Samuel Murphy, a mechanic attempting to survive with his young daughter Penny (Ava Berry) during the Great Depression in Oregon. Murphy inadvertently gets into a fight with a police officer and is sent to a work camp, while Penny is sent to a church orphanage. Samuel attempts to do his time, but learns Penny is about to age out of the church and be sent into the system, where Samuel cannot retrieve her. Camp Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) notices Samuel’s handiness and offers him an opportunity to leave the work camp early.
Clancy recruits Samuel and three other prisoners, Ranking (Austin Amelio), Singh (Avi Nash), and Olson (Lucas Lynggaad Tonnesen) to smuggle gold across the state before the government takes it. Brutal guards Letender (George Burgess) and Amis (Sam Hazeldine) accompany the group, while Indigenous runaway Anna (Julia Jones) joins the group as well. As the group treks through the hazardous wilderness, Samuel wrestles with his conscience and shifting loyalties among the group with the ultimate goal of reuniting with Penny before time runs out.
Authenticity/Themes
More than anything, this doesn’t feel like a traditional Hollywood film, lensed on soundstages with diva actors in fancy trailers. This group is in the middle of nowhere, carrying heavy loads of gold on their backs, overcoming nature and human challenges. When you see Hawke going over a rickety bridge over a river, there is no green screen or special effects.
That level of authenticity gives the film that rare throwback quality. At one point in the film, Samuel steals a car and attempts to chase down another vehicle. He realizes the car has a speed governor, so he pulls over, diagnoses the problem, fixes it, and continues. The film isn’t willing to have Samuel just duck under the dash and make things work. It all feels real. No shortcut is taken, no stone is left unturned. Each step the prisoners take feels like pain, while each roadblock might as well be a mountain. At no point is the journey going to be easy.
That doesn’t mean the film plods along at a snail’s pace. The filmmakers add danger and realistic diversions at a sustainable, but believable pace. The characters make some of the best decisions they can, but are also fallible and make human mistakes. Samuel is trying his absolute hardest to complete the task to the best of his ability, but he’s also not in charge and can only do so much. There is a constantly simmering tension between the knowledge that Samuel is right and the stubbornness of his “superiors” making other decisions. The film is a ball of tension with that dichotomy.
Cast
Hawke underplays Samuel at every opportunity. For an actor who can go very big, he keeps Samuel under wraps until his raw emotion or the circumstances call for a blowup. It helps that the film has a one-track mind on Samuel’s motivation, but Hawke balances the conflict between his own desires and the hopes of his higher-ups. Crowe’s role is a bit larger than an extended cameo, but his presence is fully felt in each scene. He is not the outwardly evil antagonist you come to expect from these films, but you also know the truth behind his intentions.
Amelio does the best job out of the prisoners, swaying his characterization between the untrusted ally and a solid companion, and back again at a moment’s notice. His character is consistently unsettling with his unpredictable behavior. Nash and Tonnesen are the more clearly “good” prisoners, but they carve out a little piece for themselves when the film gives them the chance. Jones has the least to do, and feels the most like an added-on character, but she transcends the limits of her character’s expectations. The entire ensemble does a fine job with their roles.
Conclusion
They might not make movies like they used to, but The Weight tries its best to fly in the face of that comment. Smart, gritty, adult entertainment that is sure to surprise and thrill those who harken back to a time of less precious cinema.
