Russell Crowe’s Best-Reviewed Movie in 27 Years, “The Weight,” Comes Home Tuesday

The Weight Russell Crowe movie — a 94% Certified Fresh Western that barely got a theatrical chance — gets its second life on PVOD starting October 20.

By The Cinephile — CelebnMusic247

Some movies need a second door, and The Weight is about to walk through one. Per Collider, the critically acclaimed Western drama starring Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke arrives on PVOD on Tuesday, October 20, after a three-week theatrical run that delivered acclaim and, in Collider’s words, not much in the way of box-office returns — a little more than $3 million.

The Weight Russell Crowe Movie: Why the Reviews Are the Story

The reviews are the story. Per Collider, The Weight holds a Certified Fresh 94% on Rotten Tomatoes — Crowe’s highest score since Michael Mann’s The Insider in 1999, which sits at 96%, and ahead of admired titles including The Nice Guys (91%), 3:10 to Yuma (89%), Master and Commander (85%) and State of Play (84%). The Rotten Tomatoes consensus, quoted by Collider, calls it a film that “turns a stripped-down tale of desperation into a gripping, hard-hitting thriller, elevated by Ethan Hawke’s magnetic performance and Padraic McKinley’s assured direction.”

McKinley is the other headline: per Collider, the first-time feature filmmaker — who previously worked with Crowe on Poker Face, The Loudest Voice and The Exorcism, and with Hawke on The Good Lord Bird — has now been tapped to direct Sicario 3, reuniting Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin. The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year and was released theatrically by Vertical in September, per Collider.

Collider’s prediction is that PVOD is where this one finally finds its audience, possibly charting alongside Crowe’s catalog titles at home. That pattern — critics first, living rooms second — has quietly become the Western’s natural habitat. If you missed The Weight in a theater, Tuesday is the correction.

Sources: Collider