Cinema for Brunch THE WEIGHT Review

Padraic McKinley’s directorial debut “The Weight” is a thriller one notch above serviceable thanks to a great leading performance and palpable tension.

Synopsis

When Samuel (Ethan Hawke) is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal prison, Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) offers a high-stakes proposition: smuggle gold out of a remote mine with a dangerous crew of prisoners and he’ll win his freedom. But as the group journeys into the unforgiving wilderness, the real threat isn’t the terrain – it’s the betrayal and violence festering within their ranks. Surrounded by greed, suspicion, and danger, Samuel must risk everything to reunite with his child.

Review
There’s nothing wrong with a thriller that is serviceable and delivers on what an audience is looking for, no more and no less. Padraic McKinley’s directorial debut “The Weight” proposes a tense thriller with danger and intrigue starring Ethan Hawke and more or less, it delivers on that promise. The film follows Samuel (Hawke), a single father torn from his daughter (Avy Berry) and sent to a brutal prison. To win his freedom, he agrees to a high-stakes proposition from the warden (Russell Crowe) in which he and a group of other prisoners have to smuggle gold from a remote mine back to the prison. As they travel against tough terrain and try to evade menacing strangers (as well as each other), Samuel must survive the entire journey and make it back to earn his freedom and reunite with his daughter. Stripping down “The Weight” to a tense tale of desperation works for the film as well as against it. Tough and tense journey aside, “The Weight” tries to include scenes that add depth but also runs into the avoidable trap of creating filler scenes and spinning wheels. Nonetheless, the film mostly works as a step above a serviceable thriller and in the end, the formed whole outweighs the uneven pieces.

Ethan Hawke is rarely known to phone it in with his performances and the work is no different here. His performance as Samuel shines as a WWI veteran who is a loner, scrapping to make ends meet as a lowly mechanic and wants to be the best father he can be. Hawke knows how to dial up his performance in aside scenes and knows how to be a giving actor as well with others. Russell Crowe delivers a serviceable job as Warden Clancy, not an example of some of his best character work but is on par with the thriller itself. Among the cast, another bright spot is Julia Jones as Anna, an indigenous runaway that joins the gang of prisoners and is embarking on her own journey of personal freedom. Her scenes with Hawke add a much needed level of depth that keeps the thriller from just “getting the job done”. Quiet moments aside, there are a few moments where the film spins its wheels, moments of danger and suspicion are flirted with (and sometimes fulfilled upon) but mostly just lead to “phew, that was close” moments. From boring rapport about socialism (that’s actually meant to be humorous) to plodding scenes of planning and traveling, the film is not without its weak spots.

Set in the 1930s and broken up in chapters (each chapter clarifying which step along the journey Samuel is on), “The Weight” stands up as a solid, tense thriller. The influence of William Friedkin’s 1977 “Sorcerer” (and maybe Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Wages of Fear”) is strongly felt in this one and it doesn’t feel like an empty homage. Padraic McKinley displays confident direction in his debut in which desperation is felt in almost every shot. The film’s tense bridge scene, in which Samuel stands in the middle of a rickety bridge and catches and throws each bar of gold to the other side is a terrific exercise in keeping the audience on their toes. It’s a scene that balances itself well in contrast to the memorable bridge scene in “Sorcerer”. In addition to its handling of tension, the film definitely has style. There are some truly beautiful shots, courtesy of director McKinley and cinematographer Matteo Cocco, such as a transition between a full moon to a bonfire, a daring trek across a river and a memorable, shaky POV finale showdown in which we follow Samuel as he dodges bullets and staggers his way towards the nearest road for escape. The film keeps you engaged with its action even if its filler scenes in between don’t carry the same weight (pun intended). The stirring score by Shelby Gaines and Latham Gaines is also a highlight, the violin-led score reminiscent of Johnny Greenwood’s haunting score of “There Will Be Blood”. It aptly adds to the dread and desperation of Samuel’s environment, delivering an experience that is visceral and palpable.

Closing Thoughts
“The Weight” delivers on its promise of being a tense thriller while meeting the bare minimum qualifications. Padraic McKinley delivers a confident debut that has more wins than losses. Hawke continues his run of delivering great performances, even if the film does not call for it. Even if it doesn’t necessarily change one’s life or deliver on anything totally unique from any other thriller you’ve seen before, “The Weight” is a good one-time watch.

Trailer