Plays it safe but still a very good film

8/10

A tip of the cap to director/writer Emilio Estevez for this one. He treats faith and spirituality with refreshing respect even though he plays it a bit too safe for my taste. This is a story about a father coming to grips with the loss of his son and does so honoring his memory on a famous pilgrimage, the "El camino de Santiago" in Spain. It's a slowly developing character piece that simply involves pilgrims walking while seeking something along the way. The first half of the film suffers from the attempt to separate spirituality from religion. Nothing moving or profound happens during the first half of the journey. We get walking, LOTS of walking but we also get to know the characters and are rewarded for doing so because the last half of the film really does shine. The varied motivations of his fellow pilgrims all come in to play and nothing really is what it seems with each person on the surface. Faith and purpose means different things to different people and the movie does explore that but does so with the lightest touch possible. There's no preaching or heavy-handed sermon stuff anywhere in site. It certainly is more broadly spiritual than specifically religious. It's a slow paced and ultimately light take on both spirituality and religion because it does play it safe. Audiences of faith will find it warm, reverent and congenial but not as truly satisfying because of the cautious approach. Sheen's character is a professed lapsed Catholic but it's good to see those aspects dealt with in a meaningful and emotional manner. Some aspects of his faith are seen on the journey and certainly during the climactic scene at the shrine itself. As a Catholic, I appreciated the little gestures others may not and especially the influence that St. James' shrine exerted on Sheen's character. Overall, this is a wonderful character movie.