The Weight review: engaging up til the end, but THEN...

The quality of suspense is an interesting thing. I no longer worry that much, when watching a film, about whether everything will work out for the characters; I do feel those sorts of feelings, if a film is at all effective (as I did with The Weight, the film in question here) but for most films, if I am engaged by them, the main question for me as a viewer -- the strongest element of the suspense I feel -- is a critical one: "Will I like this film when it ends, or will they manage to fuck it up?"

Up to about the 105-minute mark for The Weight, I was held in just that sort of suspense, which is not bad considering the film is only 113 minutes long (and the last three minutes are credits). There was in fact even a moment where my inward critical monologue was screaming, "cut to black, cut to black, cut to black NOW" where, if they had done so, I would have liked the film a whole lot more (during the scene where people are passing around a cigarette in a car; nothing more needed to be said or done at that point -- everything else could have been left to the imagination and the film would have been much stronger for it). 

But then... well, I don't want to spoil anything for you. I'll give you a warning before I do.  

It's not like the film had been perfect up to that point. Along the way, there had been a few things I did not care for, particularly depictions of racism and sexism that felt more contemporary than historical, that kind of took away from the film being a period piece. But I could see why, for instance, the film is being likened by some critics to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Sorcerer (and/ or The Wages of Fear, of course). Those are all vastly better films, but there are similarities. There were also scenes where I thought of Rituals, another favourite film of mine, though not one that gets whipped out quite so often as a comparison point. The Pacfic Northwest landscapes (which seem to be actually those of Bavaria???) are gorgeous and well filmed. The music is effective and suspenseful, there's some interesting edits, and the cast is great -- Hawke and Crowe, natch, but it's particularly nice to see Austin Amelio do something new (Dwight from The Walking Dead; this is the only other performance of his I've seen, I think. He's talented -- a James Woods for a new generation). There are a couple of clever bits of problem-solving (moving the rock) and effective, thrilling set pieces (the swing bridge, say, which, while having nothing on the swing bridges in Sorcerer, did get Erika and I squirming in our seats with that more base form of suspense). 

But in the end, the film I was reminded of more was Jules Dassin's Thieves Highway, and mostly because that film arrives at a perfect ending, then has a totally unnecessary bit added that breaks the mood of grim, pro-socialist cynicism about capitalism that goes before. 

Ah, well. 

As for the nature of those minutes, we venture now into spoiler territory, which you are welcome to skip if you still intend to see the film (but walk, don't run). It's pretty good, after all; I enjoyed it pretty much as much as can be reasonably hoped (because I have low expectations these days); I just didn't respect it as much as I'd hoped... But (SPOILERS COMMENCE, STOP NOW) Erika's first comment to me as the credits rolled was to observe that she bet I didn't like "the happy ending", and I feel like I must mention that and qualify it, lest anyone misunderstand: it was not, in fact, the happy ending I objected to per se. It still would have been a happy ending if they cut to black at the aforesaid smoking scene; it's not like I need everyone to lose all the time in order to take a story seriously. No, it was the tone of the last few minutes, the way that happy ending was handled, with Lynyrd Skynyrd's upbeat (and highly period-inappropriate) "Call Me the Breeze", the giggling of a child, a fast and fun car ride, and all sorts of promises (mostly involving a teddy bear) being made good on, making a film that had clearly wanted to invite comparison with grim existentialist/ socialist classics of yore into, yep, another feelgood film for the whole family, so you can leave the theatre feeling cheery and upbeat!!!

I do not go to see films so I can leave the theatre feeling cheery and upbeat, and don't like to see films pander to people who DO have that expectation, so my respect for the film rather plummeted in those moments. Plus note, filmmakers: "Call Me the Breeze" was written by JJ Cale, not John Cale, as you say in the credits. They're different people; I recall figuring that out when I was about 15. Not much excuse for that kinda mistake. 

Anyhow, bedtime here. The thing I am happiest about with the film is that we saw it theatrically, because now I won't be tempted to buy the blu-ray. 

It's a C+ movie at best, which is a shame, because it coulda been even a high B if the ending had been just a bit more in keeping with the rest of the movie.