The Way is personal & professional for its star & director

The Way is the latest movie starring Martin Sheen.  It’s story driven, with no special effects, sexual overtones, bad language or nudity.  In other words, it’s a tough sell in Hollywood.  We caught a sneak preview of The Way and the movie is effective, well told and a welcome distraction. 

To promote The Way, Martin Sheen and director Emilio Estevez are going around the country in a tour bus.  This is the third time that Estevez has directed his father Sheen onscreen.  As part of the tour we were fortunate enough to sit down with them to discuss the movie.

Sheen was the first to enter the room, punctual and very polite.  He casually made his way around the table, looked us each in the eye, greeted us by name and said “nice to meet you.”  Sheen said that he’s a practicing Catholic and going on The Camino had been a longtime personal goal of his.

Martin Sheen is immediately likeable and speaks with a warm north eastern accent.  His passion about The Way is evident in his mannerisms and enthusiastic speech.  “It’s beautifully written, especially for a lapsed Catholic”, Sheen said of The Way.  Sheen is a practicing Catholic in real life and had driven parts of The Camino in 2003.

The apple is not far from the tree and when Emilio Estevez entered the room, he was just like his dad, friendly, chatty and earnest.   Estevez is equally as passionate about the movie.  His passion was also directed to the mechanics of the movie, how certain scenes were shot and keeping the film’s quality intact while shooing on a budget.

When I saw The Way I thought that aspects of the characters mirrored Estevez’s earlier film, The Breakfast Club.  Viewers of The Way may notice similarities to The Wizard of Oz.  “With Jack we were looking for our scarecrow”, Estevez said on the casting of James Nesbitt in the role of an Irish travel writer.  Just under the surface of each main character are parallels to the four friends who walk down the yellow brick road.

Estevez said that he was trying to make a movie for something and about something, but not preachy or heavy handed.  “It’s not a message piece, there are lessons, but they are subtle”, commented Estevez.  In the end I think that he did succeed by creating a movie about religion that isn’t religious.

Towards the end of our conversation Sheen said something that seemed out of place.  “The genius of God will dwell in the darkest of places”, he said.  That parable is appropriate when you consider how the movie was such a difficult sell in Hollywood