The Way Back is a dubiously true story that is not only well made, but well acted and well photographed. It has a master director behind it: Peter Weir, and yet it manages to be unsatisfactory and frankly boring. It tells the story of a group of men who escape the gulag in Russia. They trek across forest, desert, and mountain to reach freedom. They are Ed Harris, an especially convincing Colin Farrell, and Jim Sturges. Later on they are joined by Saorise Ronan. The cinematography is breathtaking, and the first hour is actually quite entertaining. But the group makes a four thousand mile trek to freedom and that's a hell of a lot of walking. There just isn't enough drama in the film. Too much doesn't happen. The group struggles with their hunger and thirst, but we don't get the details about how they find such things despite the odds. We expect some chase scenes, for the characters are escaped convicts, and yet we get none. It's an especially disappointing film because it's executed so well, but manages to be so boring in the second hour--where there are endless shots of going over a little hill and viewing shit-tons of land to still cover. It's not a very good movie--a disappointment.
The Way Back: ✰✰1/2
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