Way, My Way, The

image for Way, My Way, The

Short takes

Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 13 (themes, language). May lack interest under 18.

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Way, My Way, The
  • a review of Way, My Way, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 20 May 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to themes and language.
Children aged 12–13 Parental guidance recommended due to themes and language.
Children aged 14 and over Ok for this age group, though may lack interest under 18.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Way, My Way, The
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes and coarse language
Length: 100 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Bill Bennet (Chris Haywood) and his wife Jennifer (Jennifer Cluff) were on a holiday in Spain when they first encountered lines of random hikers walking the 800 mile Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail. Intrigued, Bill stopped to enquire why people were hiking and couldn’t get a clear answer out of anyone. He declared them all ‘loonies’ but soon became obsessed with the trail himself. Elderly though he was, and with a bad knee to boot, Bill began training for the walk – he found the perfect hiking boots and trimmed down his backpack, and before he knew it, he was headed off to Spain for the journey of a lifetime. It is here that he meets fellow trekkers Rosa (Laura Lakshmi), Balazs (Balazs Orban) and Laszlo (Laszlo Vass), who are with him at the beginning, who are all walking the path for different reasons and who are all there to greet him at the end. Along the journey, Bill encounters others and forges bonds he never would have thought possible as the Camino works its magic, slowly changing him and allowing him a greater perspective on what is truly important in life.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Guilt; Regret; Illness; Forgiveness and Overcoming Hardship. Everyone walks the Camino for different reasons and there are many challenging topics (not necessarily themes) brought up and discussed along the way. These include: suicide, sexual abuse, cancer, infidelity and becoming a mistress.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • A character confesses that she killed a man and is walking the Camino for forgiveness.
  • A character explains how someone she loved committed suicide.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

  • None noted.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

  • None noted.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Kathmandu logo is worn and displayed.
  • Sydney Swans cap.
  • Bill frequently uses Siri to help him make phone calls.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Laszlo explains that because he is overweight, he has always been the second choice for women, and that they would always choose someone else over him.
  • A character tells how he was sexually abused as a child for far too long.
  • A character explains how she became the mistress of a married man with children and how he stole from his charity to support her lifestyle.
  • A character describes how she was often called a whore by the family of the man she was sleeping with.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Wine and beer is frequently consumed throughout the film, at most meals, at pit-stops, and even while walking the Camino itself and meeting locals.
  • Bill is adamant that he does not like beer but he is pressured by everyone else to try some and eventually ends up ordering a bottle and regularly consuming it.
  • A character drinks from a hip flask.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Loonie
  • Prissy/pussy
  • Bloody idiot
  • Stupid man
  • Crazy man
  • Shit
  • Buff head
  • Duffer
  • Whore
  • Frickin.

In a nutshell

The Way, My Way is a docu-drama based on the memoir by Bill Bennet. While full of positive messages about finding yourself, opening your heart and laying down the burdens of life, the content and overall style of the film lends itself to older audiences and, while not completely unsuitable for children, the film would likely lack interest for those under the age of 18.

The main messages from this movie are that we spend our lives amassing possessions and chasing success, both professionally and personally, often at the expense of what is truly important: our health, relationships with those we love and our general well-being. The film shares the message that miracles can happen anywhere if we are willing to lay down our burdens, open our hearts and take things one step at a time. It also shares the notion that sometimes the meaning we are searching for has been in front of us all along.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Perseverance
  • Endurance
  • Determination
  • Friendliness
  • Forgiveness
  • Compassion
  • Empathy
  • Helpfulness.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of not giving up on a dream, even if everyone thinks you are crazy to do something, going ahead and pushing yourself through hardship and challenge, through setbacks and difficulties, to finally achieve what you set out to do. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it.