Normally, you expect limited release December films to be stuffy awards bait, but Peter Weir is determined to change that. OK, yes, the trailer for The Way Back -- Weir's prison escape epic hitting theaters in Los Angeles on Dec. 29 before going wide in January -- hails the film as being "From Six Time Academy Award Nominee Peter Weir," but that doesn't mean you'll need to bring a pillow. A tolerance for Boris and Natasha-like Russian accents, maybe. But, no pillow. Seriously, check out those wolves!
Understandably, there will be more depth to The Way Back than what's shown here -- after all, as the trailer helpfully explains, the prison break is only the beginning -- but based on the snappy trailer, the film is primed to be a think-y action romp for the art house set.
Based on Slavomir Rawicz's novel The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, which itself is "fact based," The Way Back chronicles the escape of a small group prisoners from a Soviet gulag in 1940 and their journey over 4,000 miles to get home. Reviews when the film premiered in Telluride back in September were strong, and co-stars Ed Harris, Jim Strugess and Colin Farrell might all find themselves in the thick of the Best Supporting Actor race. That's all well and good, but can we all take a moment and talk about those terrifying wolves? Terrifying! Not as terrifying as walking over the Himalayas, of course, but still...
VERDICT: Just keep walking...to the theater! (Groan.) (But, yes, this looks great.)
If the trailer gets yanked down, head over to The Guardian.
[The Guardian via The Playlist]