‘The Weight’ Trailer: Warden Russell Crowe Gets Inmate Ethan Hawke To Do A Little Favor

It’s the Great Depression. Samuel Murphy is a war veteran who has been busted and sent to a notorious prison camp. And he has another problem, regarding his young daughter.

“In a month, she’ll be a ward of the state and up for adoption,” Murphy (Ethan Hawke) tells the warden (Russell Crowe). “Even with good time, I’m in here six more months.” The jailer replies: “I have a friend who needs a little help. I don’t trust any of these boys, but I trust you. You do this thing, your time is done.”

Here’s the first trailer for The Weight, the directorial debut of Padraic McKinley that bowed at Sundance in January. Have a look above.

The warden’s high-stakes deal is for Murphy to smuggle gold out of a remote mine. The gold is “trouble,” and many “desperate folk” who think it “outta belong to them.” A rickety wooden rope bridge across a gaping chasm is one of the major geographical challenges they face.

But as the inmate and his fellow prisoners journey into the wilderness, the real threat isn’t the trek, but the betrayal and violence festering within their ranks. Add in the elements of greed and suspicion, and the task gets even more daunting, especially when a woman makes her way into the group claiming she’s “as strong as any man here.”

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Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Sam Hazeldine, Avy Berry, George Burgess, Lucas Lynggaard Tonnesen also star in the pic, which Vertical acquired in March. Matthew Booi and Shelby Gaines penned the screenplay from a story by Booi & Leo Scherman and Matthew Chapman.

The Weight hits theaters on September 18.

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