The Way started off as a good idea to spend an idle Thursday evening. A friend had an exclusive pass to watch a screening before it hit the big screen on Friday. I tagged along.

Directed by Emilio Estevez, The Way has a slow start. Tom Avery (Martin Sheen) is an ophthalmologist from Ventura, CA who learns his son has tragically passed away while attempting a pilgrimage.

Tom travels to the French Pyrenees to collect the remains of his son however a conversation with a French police captain about his son's quest gives Tom the idea of finishing what his son started and he decides to have his son's body cremated so that the ashes can spread along the way.

Here's where the story and adventure begins while we follow Tom on his 500 mile trek into Spain to honor his son. On his way, he reluctantly picks up Dutchman Joost from Amsterdam whose gregarious personality is no match for the quiet mild mannered Avery however the two end up traveling together and find angry Canadian Sarah who vows to quit smoking once they reach St. James. The unlikely trio is complete once they run across a crazy Irish man Yorick in the field who is actually suffering from writer's block but finds inspiration once he hears Tom's tragic story.

Along the way and through various stops, we learn that each traveler and "pilgrim" has a dark quest that brought them far from their homes and onto the road to salvation. Neither is religious on the modern pilgrimage but seek solace in nature and in the company of each other.

Avery attempts to disband from the others and go his separate way but finally acknowledges that he needs them to finish his quest. There is a lesson that each of us can learn from The Way and the passage to St. James. We can find ourselves in these characters. I was left wanting to embark on my own discovery of the self and envious that they had found peace.

The Way unfolds beautifully on the marvelous canvas of the Europe countrysides and has an amazing storyline of discovery. I ask that you keep an open mind while viewing the film and reach in your heart.