Extreme rambling: The Way Back

Peter Weir doesn't shy away from making films of epic content and scale. This one sees him tackle the true story of a group of prisoners who escaped from a Siberian gulag in 1940, walking their way to freedom across 3,000 miles of the harshes environments.

The rag-tag group is made up in principle by Russian thief Valka (Colin Farrell), Pole Janusz (Jim Sturgess) convicted for anti-Stalinist behaviour on the basis of his wife's forced testamony and American Mr Smith (Ed Harris) who travelled to Moscow to find work during he US depression and is imprisoned for being a foreigner. They are joined en route by orphan Irena (Saoirse Ronan).

The Way Back isn't so much a road movie as a hiking movie - extreme rambling if you like. The problem is that once you've stripped out the very few encounters they have en route (the trailer does make it look a bit more action packed than it actually is, I'm afraid) and some character banter it is essentially about endurance and survival.

Nothing necessarily wrong with that. Weir does well to make the two hours stride along relatively confidentally although there were a couple of times when the pace did nearly slow to a blister-induced hobble. But I couldn't help feeling that it lacked the emotional depth of some of his other work.

The group spend so much time together in isolation and yet I never really felt like I got to know them. Yes there are some moving moments demonstrating the bond that forms but it nonetheless feels a little light on emotional engagement.

Acting against blizzards, baking desert heat and vast mountain ranges* is a feat in itself and there were some notable performances from Sturgess and Ronan in particular. Indeed the latter is carving out quite an illustrious career path for herself if she carries on developing her craft in such a way.

Of course The Way Back needs to be seen on the big screen to fully appreciate its scale but ultimately it is a good film, jaw-dropping in cinematography but slightly lacking in character.

I give it three and a half out of five and as I saw it at a preview screening there aren't aggregated reviews yet to compare. It's released on Dec 26 here in the UK and Dec 29 in the US.

* Interesting the National Geographic is the third credit at the start of the film.