Review: 'The Weight' is Weightless Despite A Good Cast Led By Ethan Hawke

The Weight’s title holds the promise of something dramatic — an emotional burden that must be lifted, a torturous journey carried out by a desperate man, a guilt hanging over someone’s conscience. Directed by Padraic McKinley from a screenplay by Matthew Booi and Shelby Gaines, the film never fully captures a sense of urgency or gritty drama, primarily because it doesn’t dwell long enough on its core father-daughter relationship. A great cast is then left wandering without a lifeline to hold onto.

After being arrested and torn from his daughter, the financially struggling Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) would do anything to get back to her. The conditions of the work camp he’s sent to, run by Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe), are not only horrific, but he needs Clancy’s sign-off to be released early. An opportunity arises to smuggle gold through the wilderness, and with Clancy promising to set Samuel and his entrusted group free, Samuel must brave betrayal, rough terrain, and more to reunite with his daughter.

The premise of a daughter being ripped away from her father, and at the height of the Great Depression in 1933, should theoretically be enough to tug at our heartstrings enough to be invested in Murphy’s journey. But of course there has to be more to it than that. There are plenty of other characters in The Weight, including the headstrong Anna (Julia Jones), an Indigenous runaway who joins Murphy and his men, but they rarely get to shine. Even Murphy’s interactions with them feel, forgive me, weighed down by flat dialogue and uninteresting moments that don’t amount to much.

At one point, Murphy stands on a rickety bridge while his men toss gold to him to get it to the other side. One of the bars is thrown too hard, and Murphy leans too far over to get it, nearly going down with it, but I never once tensed up or feared for his life. That scene pretty much sums up the rest of the film. It’s a tensionless journey with shallow emotional stakes. The performances are fine; they’re nothing to write home about, though it’s upsetting that a solid cast doesn’t get anything they can truly sink their teeth into. Even Crowe’s dominating onscreen presence is dimmed.

And because of its sluggish pacing, lackluster buildup, and barely there character development, The Weight drifts, surfacing for an occasionally intriguing character moment or gorgeous shots of the lush scenery (the best part of the film, thanks to Matteo Cocco’s cinematography). It’s a film that ingratiates itself by dangling a fraught situation in our faces even while it doesn’t do anything all that interesting with it. There’s a lot of potential here, but the film doesn’t stand out in any way.

To be sure, there are some standout moments, notably when Murphy takes matters into his own hands, which subsequently gives Hawke a chance to shine as an actor. But they’re few and far between. It’s ultimately the lack of tension that takes the air out of the film. It never gets to a place where I felt truly invested in the characters or their plight. Yes, what happens to Murphy and his daughter is awful and speaks to the effects of financial strain on people and families, but The Weight largely refuses to dig into most of these things, opting for something far more plodding instead.

The Weight is now playing in theaters.