The slow way ’round

The Way
DIRECTED BY: Emilio Estevez
STARRING: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Deborah Kara Unger, James Nesbitt
CERT: 12A

There was a time when Emilio Estevez was as famous, if not quite as notorious, as his younger brother Charlie Sheen. They made movies together, too, playing bin men in Men At Work and wild west outlaws in Young Guns – almost 25 years ago now, when the western became briefly cool and Emilio played the lead role of Billy The Kid. That one also starred fellow brat pack member Keifer Sutherland, who was more famous in those days for being ditched at the altar by Julia Roberts than he was for hunting terrorists.
Estevez has turned up on TV opposite mad Charlie in Two And A Half Men and played a younger version of his father Martin Sheen in The West Wing. Movie lovers of a certain age may remember him best as the chap from The Mighty Ducks, but for many of us, he will always be Andrew from The Breakfast Club, the 1985 John Hughes teen classic.
In recent years, he’s been keeping a lower profile, tipping away as a writer and director. His 2006 Robert Kennedy biopic, Bobby, was a bit of a mess, but had enough fine moments to suggest he at least knew what he wanted to do. His latest, The Way, is a stronger and more coherent film, one that sees him team up again with his legendary father, honorary Irishman Martin Sheen.
Sheen plays Tom, a wealthy, widowed optometrist who travels to France to collect the body of his son, Daniel (Estevez), who has died while walking the El Camino De Santiago – or, The Way Of St James – an 880km hike from the French Pyrenees to Santiago in Spain.
By tradition this is a religious journey, a sort of multi-marathon version of Croagh Patrick. But it’s also become one of those things to do for the more adventurous tourist and the ones who simply want to get off the grid for a while, get in touch with their deeper inner being, or whatever you’re having yourself.
In that vein, Tom decides on impulse that rather than fly right back to California, he will instead complete the hike in Daniel’s honour, scattering his ashes along the way. The two had a bitter parting of ways before the young man embarked on his travels and for Tom, it somehow seems right to walk a while in his son’s shoes.
On his travels he falls in with some fellow pilgrims – cheerful Dutch dopehead Joost (Yorick van Wageningen), intensely angry Canadian Sarah (Unger) and the incessantly talkative Jack (Nesbitt), an Irishman with a bad case of writer’s block.
And, well, tales are told, hearts are searched, tears are spilled and wounds are healed. It doesn’t hurt that it all plays out against a backdrop of lovely, relaxing scenery.
Which is all very nice and sometimes even quite moving. But it’s clichéd and predictable too and, though the supporting actors do a decent job, their characters are more like caricatures. It gets a tad slow and dull too and at 128 minutes, it’s clear Estevez still hasn’t learned to be a ruthless editor.
Thankfully, Martin Sheen is always a pleasure to watch. This is his best film role in a while and his strongest performance, which just about makes the long and sometimes gruelling journey worth sticking with.
Just be sure to bring food and a tent. 

Kung Fu Panda 2
DIRECTED BY: Jennifer Yuh
VOICES: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme
CERT: PG
Seems a tad lame, maybe, to say that a cartoon was a major disappointment, but Kung Fu Panda was a big letdown a few years back. The sequel, though, is a more enjoyable yarn, despite its needless and useless 3D.
Po the panda (Black) is now a Dragon Warrior, protector of the kingdom along with the Furious Five – Tigress (Jolie), Mantis (Rogen), Monkey (Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross).
This time out their combined fearsome skills are pitted against an evil peacock called Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), who has a fondness for scrap metal and likes to throw deadly sharp tail feathers at his foes. He has his eye on conquering the land – and a past entwined with Po’s.
The panda, meanwhile, finally learns where he came from – solving the mystery of how Mr Ping, the goose, could be his father.
It’s a fun and lively affair, with lots of action and broad comedy to keep the youngest of kids happy, along with the kind of good grown up gags that were sorely missing from the original.
No doubt we’ll be seeing more, which should keep Jack Black occupied for a while to come. If only he could rediscover the knack for picking good live action roles, then going to the movies would be a less painful experience for all of us.