STORYLINE: Desperate to save what is left of his family, during the height of the Great Depression a battle-scarred veteran is hired to help smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness. (IMDb)

   Leonardo DiCaprio trekked through the wilderness, on a mission of revenge, in The Revenant (2016).  Emilie Hirsch, went Into the Wild, in the 2007 motion picture directed by Sean Penn.  Rachel McAdams survived on a desert island after crash landing, in the 2026 thriller Send Help.  In the current release, The Weight, stars Ethan Hawke, as an inmate carrying gold, as he treks through the wilderness, on a mission of survival.

    Many films feature plots about what lengths one goes to got ones family. The Coen Brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Robin Williams’ comedy Mrs Doubtfire (1993), and Paper Moon (1979), in their own unique way cover that topic. The Weight, is a film about a con man wanting to reunite with his daughter. 

     The Weight feels like a cross between O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Revenant.  The film follows four members of a chain gang like prison, as they survive the wild with treasure.

    The Weight has the style of a western film to it.  Instead of cowboys, it focuses on crooks. Like westerns, the central characters fall into clear good guys and bad.  The primary setting is the American frontier.  There is a climatic shootout.  All these are features of a classic western movie.

    The Weight is a thrill to watch.  It has exciting chase, yet predictable chase sequences.  There are shoot outs, and slight bits of intensity sprinkled throughout.  It’s one of these mindless, popcorn features that I enjoy watching.  

   In addition to Ethan Hawke, as the films hero, Russel Crowe is featured in a supporting role, as a questionable police officer.  It’s the kind of role he does well, and in The Weight, he did it well.

    The Weight is a wilderness survival feature, done as a western, that is thrilling to watch. 

   Until next time, I will see you at the movies!