On the whole I enjoyed the movie. It was a great idea; son dies, father completes pilgrimage and 'learns' about life. But my goodness there were a heck of a lot of cliched scenes; knocking on the policeman's door in the middle of the night - how did he know where the policeman lived? And why did the policeman mention that he had lost a son? The character never shows up again. Was this to create a bond between the two? Odd.

At every hostel Sheen and his crew are given a hero's welcome; have a seat, have some food and wine, as if they have been expecting them - how did they know? At one point he looks over the balcony to see the hotel owner pretending to be a matador - I always wanted to be a matador but my father wanted me to be a lawyer. The point here is that Sheen wanted a dull career for the dead son. Sheen looks suitably chastened.

The gypsy is a thief, but hey wait a minute, gypsies are honest at heart after all. A priest hands out rosary beads after telling Sheen all about his brain operation. This is shoehorned into a three minute scene.

It's great to look at; lingering shots of the mountains, pastures, rivers and ancient towns but the clunky dialogue and corny acting jars a little.