Film Review: The Way Back

Even before I heard that Hollywood had plans to make The Way Back, the story behind it piqued my interests. When I found out that acclaimed filmmaker Peter Weir had been attached to direct the film, it went on my list of movies-to-see. It is loosely based on Slawomir Rawicz’s ghost-written book The Long Walk, which is an allegedly true story about his and six fellow Siberian Gulag prisoners’ escape and trek to freedom. Several critics of the book have continuously called its accuracy into question. Unfortunately, Soviet records revealed that Rawicz’s true story is different from what is accounted for in the book; in other words, the novel’s veracity has been debunked (according to many). While I was disappointed to learn that the film is basically a work of fiction, as Weir stated, this fact does not take too much away from The Way Back – it is still a good movie that features solid performances, breathtaking cinematography, and an inspiring story. However, it fails to fully engage the viewer’s emotions; if it had, the film could have been a great one.