The Weight Review: Ethan Hawke Shines In Great Depression Heist Flick
Images courtesy of Rialto Distribution.
Earlier this year, Ethan Hawke was an Oscar nominee for his work as Lorenz Heart in the Richard Linklater period piece Blue Moon. Now he’s back with another period piece, but the setting couldn’t be more far removed from the sophistication of 1940s New York. The Weight takes viewers to the hard times of the Great Depression, with Hawke playing a desperate man who is sent on a treacherous journey.
Samuel Murphy (Hawke) is a widower and veteran who is struggling to provide for his seven-year-old daughter Penny (Avy Berry). They are evicted from their home, and after a misunderstanding with the police, Samuel is separated from Penny and sent to work at a labour camp. The camp is overseen by warden Clancy (Russell Crowe), who offers Samuel a job – and a way back to his daughter. An associate of Clancy’s needs gold to be smuggled from a mine across the country before it can be taken by the government. If Samuel and three men of his choice from the camp succeed, their sentences will be shortened. They are plunged into the depths of the wilderness with two other men from the mine, and it isn’t long until human betrayal becomes as much of a threat as mother nature.
If viewers can get past the somewhat slow opening act that lacks a strong narrative hook, they will be rewarded with an incredibly solid survival thriller. The Weight properly takes off once Samuel and his team have left the safety of the camp and embark on what seems like a suicide mission. The tension confidently kicks in, thanks to a number of well staged set pieces. The most heart-pounding one sees the men toss heavy gold bars to each other across a decaying rope bridge that cannot hold their weight. Another visually striking and haunting sequence sees a character being attacked, with the action only momentarily visible through timed lightning strikes. Hawke is excellent as always, combining his both charisma and ruggedness to create a likable underdog. For such a big name and high billing, Crowe has a surprisingly small role, only appearing briefly at the beginning and end of the film. It is Julia Stone who surprises the most, with her character adding a much needed feminine and Indigenous point of view to a group full of white men. The movie looks great too, with sleek cinematography that richly captures the sprawling vastness of the American wilderness.
The Weight is a film that may not linger for an exceptionally long time due to a conventional script. However, thanks to well crafted tension and thrills, it makes for a very entertaining watch for the majority of its runtime.
The Weight opens in cinemas on Thursday the 17th of September. For more information, click here.
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