The Road Review

I’m puzzled over what exactly attracted me to this movie so much. I’m sure that it’s relationship to No Country for Old Men played a large factor, but I actually didn’t really enjoy watching Old Country that much, I just had a deep respect for such a bleak story. A movie so dark has to come from a place of purity, and so must The Road. I suppose that’s a pretty big assumption considering that I haven’t actually read any of Cormac McCarthy’s stuff.

The Road is a post-apocalyptic tale that follows the path of a man and his son as they travel the wasteland once known as America in search of greener (or less grey) pastures, while avoiding cannibals, disease and the ghosts of their lives gone by.

It is certainly as bleak as the Coen’s McCarthy adaptation, and The Roadis definitely dreary too, but my major complaint is that it wasn’t actually sad. Viggo’s performance was complex, compelling and often naked – but I think that he’s still got to take some of the blame for failing to evoke the pathos you’d think would be inherent in a story like this. I’m not laying it all on him though, Director John Hillcoat’s failure to examine the human cost of the loss of everyone’s humanity is a lost opportunity. I also think he failed to make proper use of Kodi McPhee as The Boy, who Viggo could have played off more effectively. Finally, the haunting soundtrack provided by the never-fails-to-depress Nick Cave, was underplayed and should have occupied more of the film, rather than trying to convey an empty soundscape to match the barren landscape. Essentially, this world that was so devoid of life is mirrored by a film that was devoid of an real depth of emotion.

Whether it was able to squeeze my soul in the same way that films like House of Sand and Fog or Requiem for a Dreamwere able to do or not, the cinematography was incredible – DOP Javier Aguirresarobe is able to accomplish so much with a such a small palette of colours, it’s incredible. (It’s also likely why he was tapped for 2 of the Twilight movies.)

SPOILER: On a more personal note: I don’t believe that a child who was born into a post-apocalyptic world would want to kill himself. It’s in our nature to survive and to adapt to the world in which we live. I can understand those who remember the world before it all went to shit might want out – they know what they’re missing. But if its the only world you’ve ever known, I think that you would just set your expectations lower and plod on ahead as best as you can.

The Verdict: For a movie this depressing, it didn’t have enough magic to really make it feel worthwhile. I hold out hope that The Book of Eli will bring more magic and paint a slightly less dreary picture and recommend that you hold out for that instead.