I Feel The Weight of “The Weight”

The Weight premiered at Sundance this year and is now in theaters.  It is being sold on the fact that it stars Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe.  Hawke plays the main character, but Crowe is more of a side character.  Important for the plot, but doesn’t take up much screentime, similar to Bryan Cranston’s role in Godzilla (2014).  Still, audiences are probably not going to mind that too much, given the fact that Ethan Hawke’s performance is so captivating.  He loses himself in the character of Samuel Murphy, which is written well but definitely elevated by Hawke’s performance. 

But there are many more than two performances in The Weight, and the whole cast is compelling.  While most of the characters fall into archetypes, the performances are so great that they feel less stale and more familiar.  Credit is due to, of many others, director Padraic McKinely, who is mostly known for directing about a dozen episodes of television.  Of particular note is Julia Jones, playing a Native American woman named Anna, and Avi Nash, playing a South Asian man named Singh.  (Shout-out to people with that name, especially as a middle name).  While this is mostly a story about White men, both from the protagonists’ and antagonists’ point-of-view, these two characters provide an important contrast in perspectives while never being reduced to caricature. 

The cast is what most critics will be talking about in relation to The Weight, but perhaps more credit should be given to Shelby and Latham Gaines for the music in this film.  The score is intense and aggressive, more like a horror film than a period-piece adventure flick.  It is in your face and does not let you relax through intense scenes.  Others might criticize The Weight for using the music to do the emotional heavy lifting for the film, and there is no question that the music is front-and-center.  But The Weight is more reminiscent of Hamnet, where the music is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but the characters are still well-developed and the cast is still excellent, to the point that the music is still more a compliment than a replacement for emotional impact. 

Cinematographer Matteo Cocco should also be given some credit for this film.  Like in the recently released Hope, The Weight is largely set in a forest, which is beautiful at first but can become repetitive.  That’s why Cocco’s work is so impressive.  Throughout the film, there are numerous shots which emphasize the beauty, but also the intimidating nature, of the environment which the characters traverse, without the characters ever explicitly emphasizing that factor through dialogue.  There is also one sequence involving a thunderstorm at night which utilizes quick flashes of light that could not have been more captivating.  The sound design, camera angles, and the actors’ facial expressions make this sequence simultaneously unbearable and magical.  The craft aspects of this film are truly impressive, especially given its naturalistic approach. 

The Weight will not make a lot of money at the box office.  It will probably not appear at the Academy Awards either.  But it is a fairly excellent film.  There may be things left to be desired, but for a feature film debut, Padraic McKinley really knocked it out of the park.  It is an old-school Western adventure story in the style of True Grit that resonates beyond the traditional reach of the genre.  It is highly recommended, will transport you back to its Great Depression-era setting and will have you rooting for the protagonist harder than most films this year.