THE WEIGHT is a movie playing theaters right now that I’m not sure everybody has heard about. It stars Ethan Hawke (EXPLORERS), and Russell Crowe (THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS) is also in it, two great actors who are probly gonna be good no matter what they’re in, but you’re not always guaranteed they picked a keeper. This time they did. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen this year.

Hawke plays Samuel Murphy, a widower struggling to provide for his daughter Penny (Avy Berry, A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE) during the Great Depression. He stays positive and tries to shield her from their predicament, but it’s not looking good. When they get evicted from their apartment she (over his objections) sells her beloved teddy bear to a neighbor to try to raise cash. She’s a good kid. When they go to check on renting some godforsaken rathole some plain clothes police officers harass him, decide he’s trying to squat there, beat him up and arrest him. He tells Penny through the bars of the jail cell don’t worry, he’ll come find her, and she’s like… what do you mean? Where am I going? My eyes were misty before the title even hit.

He gets sent to a labor camp run by Clancy (Crowe), a tough warden but with a nice side to him. When he gives them a seemingly impossible task of moving a large boulder, Murphy engineers a method to cut holes into each side and turn it using the handles of pick axes. Clancy is impressed. Lets him hang out on his porch. Gives him a Dr. Pepper. Talks to him about his life.

When Clancy finds out about his daughter, that even with good behavior he’s not gonna get out in time to stop her from becoming a ward of the state, he offers him a deal. Pick three other convicts you trust, I’m gonna send you to do a job for a friend of mine, then I’ll sign your release papers. Murphy’s not dumb. He knows something’s up. But of course he says yes. It’s the only chance of keeping the only thing that matters to him.

His team is a loud mouth named Rankin (Austin Amelio, The Walking Dead), an Indian political activist named Sing (Avi Nash, also The Walking Dead). and a Scandinavian named Olson (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, not on The Walking Dead). Clancy’s friend Taggert (Alec Newman, A LONELY PLACE TO DIE) runs security for a mine, and all the gold is about to be seized by FDR. The story goes that other mines have been looted, so Taggert wants to secretly move the gold for the time being, to keep it safe. Make of that what you will.

So the boys, chaperoned by security goons Amis (Sam Hazeldine, THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR) and Letender (George Burgess, LAND OF BAD), have to sneak bags of gold bricks out of there and carry them through the woods for six days. Before they even get out of the camp they’re spotted by Anna (Julia Jones, JONAH HEX, THE TWILIGHT SAGA, COLD PURSUIT, REZ BALL), an Indigenous servant trying to escape. She convinces them they’re safer taking her with them than leaving her and risking her getting them caught. The guards make her cook.

Many reviews mention SORCERER, and it’s a good comparison to make. Of course they’re on foot, not in trucks, and there’s no exploding. It’s not the same thing. But you have that dynamic of people from different backgrounds working together on a tense, dangerous mission. And there’s a rope bridge, among the many dangers.

Another one is when they come across an ex-miner (Cameron Brady) in the middle of nowhere and have to hang out with him. At first I thought he looked like young, bearded Paul McCartney, then he kinda gave off Charles Manson vibes. They try not to reveal to him what they’re up to but they know he probly figured it out and is probly following them with other people.

They also can’t trust their armed escorts, especially Letender, who’s a big tough guy too macho to take Murphy’s warning seriously. And they never know if one of the team is gonna want to run off with some of the gold or just do something stupid that fucks everything up (I’m looking at you, Rankin). Or if Clancy will even give them what he promises when it’s all done. And there are many injuries they have to treat in the field with limited resources. So much to worry about.

There’s lots of nice character stuff that comes out in the dialogue. I felt it was implied that Murphy had had some time as a moonshine runner, but maybe he just knows his stuff. As you expect they sort of set him and Anna up as almost a couple, but I like that it’s more about the respect they have for each other than whatever attraction they seem to have. She’s a welcome female presence who wisely doesn’t trust any of them right away, and it’s nice to see them start to connect.

I won’t rehash what I’ve said in other reviews about how much I’ve come to appreciate Hawke over the years, what a treasure he is, and a Gen-X icon. (Here he makes work camp denim look so fashionable.) This is another high mark in this stage of his career. He’s looking weathered, he’s got lines on his forehead, but he doesn’t have to do any of the tough guy stuff most actors want to do to play this type of character. He just plays smarter than the others, more serious, more observant. While Rankin is babbling he’s staying quiet and showing us with his eyes what he thinks of him, and that his mind is on the job and the threats no one else has considered. His trademark sincerity comes out in the opening, the strong bond with his daughter, and then we know that’s why he’ll do anything to accomplish this task.

It’s a much smaller role for Crowe, but a good one. You don’t know if he’s gonna go inspirational coach or slimeball, or something in between. He really works as a supporting player. Let’s get going on POPE’S EXORCIST 2 though please.

It’s a good looking movie, too. Cinematographer Matteo Cocco shot Dario Argento’s 2022 film DARK GLASSES (which I liked). I kept thinking of TRAIN DREAMS, but that’s probly just the time period and the Pacific Northwest woods (filmed in Germany though, for this) and the feeling of oh yeah, they can still make serious grown up type movies with good casts and production values. But that was a Malick-inspired, arty kinda take on the material, this is more of a crowdpleaser. The tension builds perfectly, things go as sour as expected but come together in very satisfying ways. Meanwhile, without feeling much like a message movie, there’s a very of-the-moment substance to it, the way it shows poverty being criminalized and the victims of this doing the dirty work for rich people who are skirting the law to literally hoard all the wealth at the expense of society at large. A crime thriller with more on its mind than just getting the loot.

The director is Padraic McKinley, who has previously only directed TV shows, but he was an executive producer on The Good Lord Bird, where Hawke played John Brown. I need to watch that. The screenplay is credited to Matthew Booi (TRENCH 11) and Shelby Gaines (WILDCAT), story by Booi & Leo Scherman (also TRENCH 11) and Matthew Chapman (COLOR OF NIGHT). Gaines also composed the creepy score with his brother Latham, Hawke’s buddy who devised the illusions to make him look short in BLUE MOON.

I’m gonna be recommending this to everyone. Many people will love this.