The Weight (MA) – 113 minutes

A Depression era drama, The Weight concerns the plight of widower Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke), the father of smart young daughter Penny (Avy Berry).

It is 1933 and we are in Eugene, Oregon.

Like so many others, Samuel is on struggle street when he and Penny are evicted from their apartment while they are attending church. 

Leaving most of their earthly goods on the landing, they search for a place to stay when Samuel is set up by the police.

He ends up in the clink, while Penny is sent off to a home.

Four months later, Samuel and other convicts have a chance to reduce the length of their sentences.

They can do so by undertaking hard labour with pickaxes, building roads for warden Clancy (Russell Crowe). 

Quietly spoken, Samuel shows his natural leadership by coming up with a way to move a particularly large boulder that wouldn’t budge without his input.

The warden is suitably impressed and puts a proposition to Samuel.

Select three other prisoners he trusts and successfully undertake a dangerous mission for Clancy’s mate, then Clancy will immediately sign their release papers.

In Samuel’s case that is particularly appealing because he is desperate to reclaim his daughter before it is too late to do so.

Penny is due to be made a ward of the state and put up for adoption in just one month, so time is of the essence.

So it is that Samuel and the three others he has chosen are tasked with smuggling gold bars out of a remote mine through beautiful but hostile terrain over five days.

With them are two less than scrupulous minders.

Invariably they confront a series of obstacles as the chance to lay their hands on the gold proves an attractive proposition for many.

Samuel needs to keep a cool head in the wake of subterfuge and violence.

Notwithstanding strong performances from Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe and Julia Jones as a native woman who joins the gold trek, the story looks stage managed.

Don’t mistake that to mean there aren’t several tense moments.

There are.

They include the arrival of Jones as Anna, perilous scenes on a dilapidated wooden bridge above a canyon and on a fast-moving river, and conflict among the crew. 

That is not to overlook the appearance of a creepy and threatening stranger in search of a meal, but for much of the time you can see the wheels turning.

You might not know exactly what is going to happen, but the direction is clear.

Probably the most obvious is the attraction between the characters played by Hawke and Jones.

I was also impressed by Avy Berry’s showing as the earnest daughter.

And getting back to Crowe, he brings real credibility to the schemer that is the warden.

I also take nothing away from Hawke’s domineering presence and guile as Samuel, while there is a not to be messed with determination about Jones as Anna.

I also appreciated the striking visuals in disparate settings and the accompanying evocative score.

The cinematographer is Matteo Cocco, while the composers are Latham and Shelby Gaines.

This marks Padraic McKinley feature debut. He cut his teeth helming TV series and miniseries.

The writers, Matthew Booi, Shelby Gaines and Matthew Chapman, have presented us with too much of the expected. 

So, while The Weight is not without merit, I would have liked the path to have been less obvious.

Rated MA, it scores a 6½ out of 10.