MovieChat Forums > Long Way Down (2007) Discussion > In defense of Eve ...

In defense of Eve ...

posted 15 years ago by VelvetBabe
10 replies | jump to latest

I think people have to remember that this is not a "movie", this is a documentary featuring real people- married men with families. I think the people who are being so harsh about Eve are forgetting that she's a real human being. Put yourself in her shoes. She had to sit home with her then 3 and 8 year old kids (during LWR) for FOUR STRAIGHT MONTHS while her husband was off enjoying himself on a motorcycle journey. 16 weeks without seeing his three yr old! If anyone on here is honest with themselves, you'd have to admit it would make you crazy- your spouse (and for guys reading this- imagine it's your wife swanning off and not you!) is having an incredibly exciting adventure every single day without you, while you are stuck at home missing out on it all and having to explain to your heart broken 3 yr old why daddy isn't around. (As Ewan said in the book accompanying the series- his daughter went around the house looking for him and was extremely upset when she couldn't find him, refused to hang up when he called, etc). Okay? Again, husband has fantastic exciting adventures, wife is stuck home having to experience it 2nd hand. Eve is only human, undoubtedly resentment would develop when hubby decides he's going to do this a SECOND time only a few years later.

Again, how many of you guys would be cool if your wife took off on you like this, for a 4 month stretch leaving you home to babysit? Then proposed to do it a 2nd time- without you? Try and be dead honest with yourself when you answer that question.

I love Ewan, I'm a huge fan, but the man takes on so many movie projects that he has hardly any time in between filming (he's just in fact done 5 movies in the last 15 months- most of them away from home.) So then when he gets a rare stretch of time off between films, he decides to take off again and not be with his family? Twice?

Eve's crime was in not wanting to miss out again on some of the incredible adventures she must have been hearing about for all the time between the two bike trips- can you imagine how many stories the guys' have told their families? Stuff that wasn't in either of the documentaries, undoubtedly. Eve's huge crime was in wanting to experience it WITH her husband, instead of living vicariously through him. So for him to announce he's going to do yet another journey and be away for MONTHS ... leaving her behind ... well at least in 2007 the kids were a bit older than in 2004.

Yes, Ewan and Eve could go on their own motorcycle journey together- but again, given that the man chooses for some reason to work non-stop (in the LWR book, Charley comments at one point that Ewan had taken a total of 8 DAYS off the previous YEAR), she literally had just this one chance. And she overcame her fear of bikes and learned to ride- do any of you give her credit for that?! That's how bad she wanted this! She became competent, even- though yes, she did fall down over and over just like Ewan, but considering her lack of experience, she seemed to do pretty well, and didn't appear to bitch, even. Yes it caused some tension between Ewan and Charley but *beep* remember that she only travelled with them for something like 10 little days out of 3 months! She got a tiny snippet of the adventure, Ewan seemed genuinely upset to see her leave, so where is the freaking harm? I'm sorry it caused the tension that it did, but when you look at the big picture, it was a small thing to ask. So all of you, give the woman a freaking break, already.

[–] Sauerkopf 15 years ago

I absolutely agree with you, but to be honest at first I really didn´t like the idea of Eve joining them on their trip. I can´t really explain why, for me it was something Ewan and Charley were doing- a men thing and suddenly she wanted to interfer. The other point that bugged me wasthe thing Russ or Dave said,when they heared that Eve wanted to come along. That they have children and what would happen if there was a fatal crash in africa.

On the other hand I could unrstand Eve,maybe because I am a woman as well and I also wouldn´t like to be seperate from my husband for such a long time, not knowing what is going on and just being told about it..
Ewan really seemed to be *beep* excited about seeing his wife, so we really shouldn´t say anything about it. He really seemed to be happy, that she came and did this. After all, it was her first time on a bike. and in my opinion she did well.
I´d love to see all those people,who laughed about her when she fell off her bike, in her stead.

[–] VelvetBabe 15 years ago

And I'm not even saying that it was "right" for Eve to come along as far as the tv show they were filming- if it were me, I don't think I would have put my husband in such an awkward position. But I sure as all hell would have wanted to come along. When Eve said in LWR that she couldn't help but feel jealous of their adventure, I totally related! How could you not? She was excited for him, but she hated missing out. Totally understandable. I just wanted to remind the Eve bashers that she's not some actress on a movie set- this is a documentary, and she's married to the freaking guy and so she is automatically wrapped up in the Long Ways, too, if he's wrapped up in them, whether she wants to be or not.

So again, for her to be asked to sit home for months babysitting, and miss out on yet another extraordinary life-altering adventure- NOT a movie set with lines you have to learn and a script you have to follow (and therefore, no room for wives) ... I mean, if you can honestly put yourself in her shoes, I think you have to give her a break and understand that if you have any sense of adventure at all, it would kill you to be left behind (again) while your spouse is planning and getting all excited and talking about it nonstop for months on end.

And all these people saying what they want to see or not see the guys do on the next Long Way- this isn't OURS, people- it's THEIRS! And so them deciding to meet up with or bring their parents or kids or wives along is what THEY want- it's their story, their vacation, their adventure, their lives, not ours.

Not to say Eve coming along was what Charley wanted- it was obvious that he didn't. I just hope for the sake of their frienship that Charley is man enough to have gotten over it and dealt with it. (And I think he has - I was happy to see that Ewan made a brief appearance and hung out with Charley in the By Any Means thing recently.)

[–] DanAnscombe 15 years ago

I completely see where you are coming from. I can understand Eve wanting to go along, but I can also see why Charley would feel how he probably did.
I don't think I would have had any problem with Eve going along for a bit, but it's because she wanted to ride with them that ruined it a little bit. The whole point of the show was Ewan and Charley going on an adventure on their bikes. The introduction of Eve interfered with that (having to go a different route to accommodate her) and that made a negative impact on the program in my opinion.

Ewan and Eve could (along with Charley and his wife...) have planned their own journey during their spare time, going without the cameras. I've been with my girlfriend a couple of years now, and the thought of leaving her for 4 months would be almost impossible. So whilst I understand the reasons that Eve wanted to join in, to me it had a detrimental effect on the show, which was about these two guys going on a bike adventure through Europe and Africa.

[–] VelvetBabe 15 years ago

Thanks, Dan. I appreciate the reasoned response- I was expecting to get jumped on by people, because everyone is SO freaking down on Eve.

Seriously check Ewan's IMDB board and see how many films the guy does. As I said in my post, Charley indicated in the book that Ewan took a total of 8 DAYS off the previous whole YEAR. The guy works constantly, which I'm sure is great for him if he loves acting. But for the wife and 3 kids of a guy who is what sounds like a bit of a workaholic- who not only works all the time, by choice, as he doesn't exactly need the money, but also works oftentimes far away from home in other countries ... 8 days off means that he has extremely limited time for things like vacations or simply general time with his family. Again, this is something he chooses- he could easily turn down a few roles here and there, but doesn't. I saw him interviewed recently, for Angels & Demons, and he said he's done 5 movies in the last 15 months- so essentially, since LWD, he's been working non-stop.

His IMDB page indicates that the only times he hasn't done at least one film a year, usually two or more, is 2004, and 2007- the years of the Long Ways.

So if you are Eve, and your husband takes virtually no time off at ALL, and then when he DOES take a stretch of time off, it's to travel the world with his buddies ... what are you to do? That's my point. Everyone is whining and complaining about Eve wanting to spend 10 little days with her husband out of 3 months- after she was left behind for 4 solid months in 2004, and no one is considering that it is *Ewan* who is creating this situation, by taking on so many freaking acting roles. I'm sorry if people are so pissy about it and comparing her to Yoko Ono, which is ridiculous. Yoko saw John all the time, constantly. Eve by contrast is constantly left behind to baby-sit while Ewan acts or goes on his bike riding adventures with buddies.

I'm just asking people to see it from a human perspective. Again, the Long Ways are not 'movies', they are documentaries. Eve's not an actress playing a role, and there's no script, so they were free to do whatever they wanted, whatever scheduling, during whatever time. Eve doesn't actually *have* the option of taking off on a bike riding adventure with him afterwards, because after the Long Ways, Ewan goes right back to work. Her appearing at all I think was probably a compromise. Or some might say, throwing her a bone.

As I said, if it were me, I don't think I would have put my husband in that awkward a position in front of cameras & his friends, but I'd sure as hell be pissed at him for working so much when he doesn't need to, being away for so long from our 3 young kids, and in essence forcing me to try to create ways to be with him, and then to boot, being ridiculed afterwards for it by his insensitive fans.

[–] Sonatine97 15 years ago

You make some fantastic, measured & logical points in defence of Eve. And I couldn't agree with you more!

I may have already made a comment on an earlier thread here, but when I watched LTD first time round, I was immensely irritated by Eve's apparent gatecrash on the adventure, as if she wanted to be in the spotlight, purely because of the huge success of its predecessor, Long Way Round. I also felt it upset the dynamic somewhat, between the men in front, and behind the camera,

However, a few months later, I watched the show again, and I must confess to not minding her presence at all. Yes it did upset some of the guys, but they got over it, more or less.

But for all that, I rather enjoyed her screen presence. And clearly Eve & Ewan love each other a great deal, and given his scheduling commitments for other projects, I guess this trip was the ideal to get some quality time together and share some new experiences.

And as you point out, VB, Eve was only there for what, 10 days out of 3 months. So it wasn't that a big deal after all.

And the best aspect about her appearance in the show is that it has influenced at least three of my female friends & work colleagues to take up the pleasures of riding a bike. One of whom has since toured parts of Britain on a bike, purely because of being so influenced by Eve's own determination to try something new in her life!

And I looked & I beheld a pale horse & the name that sat on him was Death & Hell followed with him.

[–] dolemitesdick 15 years ago

Whilst having her in the doco did detract a bit (Though it did add something though so wasnt entirely negative ), I believe ppl are over emphasizing that her being there was the chief cause this wasnt as good as long way round.

IMO The chief reason this wasnt as good has nothing to do with eve, but instead was the convey nature of the travelling.
In the LWRound you had the three guys on the bikes only seeing the support crew at the border crossings, thus they spent days of just the three guys traveling + experiencing difficulties by themselves which built up a more comradeship atmosphere, you had the feeling the 3 guys were roughing it a bit more.
in the LWDown the support crew was along for the journey (I assume they done this cause they were worried about crime/danger ) Ok this may make sense from a safety point of view but it really detracted from the whole adventure atmosphere

www.zedzeek.com

[–] VelvetBabe 15 years ago

I completely agree with you that people are using Eve's presence as an excuse for why they didn't like LWD as much as LWR. Myself, I think the sole reason LWD isn't quite as enjoyable is that it's so rushed- the first several episodes have them rushing through several countries, which is a terrible shame. I think the guys' saw right away that they had made a huge mistake on their parts as far as the scheduling ... BUT, from this point forward, I found the series extremely enjoyable- just as much as LWR, and I totally forgot about the earlier rushing bits.

I think these two series' are real gifts- inspirational, a lot of fun, fascinating, and engrossing as hell, as well as educational. I absolutely *loved* the African bits and the people they met on the way, the landscapes, the look of the people, their man-made huts and customs and culture and clothing, etc. Magical stuff. It *totally* pulled you in and you didn't want to leave.

So people, quit your endless boring whining about Eve. Give her a break already- in the end, it was only a few days, she did pretty well given her total lack of motorcycle experience, and I suspect her presence very likely made the trio of 3 strange men coming to town perhaps a bit less intimidating for the people they met. Okay? Good.

[–] roland-rockerfella 14 years ago

You make a good argument and I can see both sides. On one hand this is a "boy" thing, an adventure that the guys do and that is what made LWR so special. However Ewan was clearly very excited to have his wife along for a time and after all she was only there for 10 days out of a trip that went for over 12 weeks so where is the real harm?. If she had insisted on doing the whole thing then I would have said scrap the idea all togeather but that wasn't the case. It's just one of those situations where there will be a loser regardless of how it turns out.

[–] crocelover 9 years ago

Well Said!

Ain't nothing wrong with a wife wanting to be with her husband. It's nice to see two people who genuinely seem to love one another! I love how much Ewan adores Eve.

[–] throwntosafety 9 years ago

I just watched both docs for the first time on Netflix. I can't understand why anyone was ripping on Eve - she didn't want to go the whole time, just to "get a taste of her husband's adventures." And she wasn't disruptive in the least bit, and it was good she went in the middle so she wasn't there at the end like she'd been there the whole time.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Higgins was right.
http://www.facebook.com/BringZackBack