The Road is based on Cormac McCarthy's novel. As a huge fan of that book I was looking forward to this movie since I heard it was being made, and even more so when I found out that Viggo Mortenson was playing the lead. The story begins around the year 2020 after some sort of disaster(its never clear what) leaves the planet a dried up husk of ash. No animal or plant life has survived, and there are only pockets of human survivors. To make matters worse, many humans have turned to cannibalism to survive and patrol the road hunting for their next meal. Our protagonists are a man(Mortenson) and his young son(Kodi Smit McPhee). When we meet them they are already in a bad way. Skin and bone, completely exhausted and emotionally broken, they fight on with their shopping cart of provisions in an attempt to reach the coast, where the man believes some sort of salvation awaits. The man is haunted by memories of his past life with his wife(Charlize Theron) and struggles with not only evading the gangs of cannibals and finding some food, but constantly reassuring his son that there is still hope and that they will survive. But, in saying that, he has told the boy that if it looks like they may be captured, he must take his own life with one of the 2 bullets they have left in the man's gun.
Plot wise, that's your lot. Some found McCarthys book a bit repetitive and if that was you, the movie won't change your opinion. But its not about flashy set pieces or trying to be exiting, although there are moments of tension and action, its mainly just a story about a fathers unending love for his son, and the power of humanity shining through in the most desperate times. And believe me, these times are desperate. This is a bleak movie. Some scenes are disturbing, some depressing, some downright shattering. Part of me was glad that the books most notorious scene(a baby roasting on a spit) was left out of the movie. Not much else has been. Director John Hillcoat(
The Proposition)has made a near perfectly faithful adaptation. Some may feel too faithful, as we don't have McCarthy's lyrical pros to dampen the repetition. I didn't think the movie suffered for it at all, but I know some will.
The performances are amazing. I can't say enough good things about Mortenson and McPhee. I never once thought I was looking at 2 actors, instead it felt that a camera was actually following these wretches on the road. They have a chemistry that really works and your never in doubt that your watching a father and son. I know awards don't mean anything really, but come Oscar time it would be nice to see them..or at least Mortenson nominated. Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall also pop up in small but pivotal roles and are also great. Theron's role of the wife/mother has been lengthened from the book and she justifies it with a cold but brilliant turn.
So be prepared for a dark, but beautiful film... and if that sounds a bit pretentious, I'm sorry but there really is no other word I can use for it. But as much of a downer as I'm making it sound, it really isn't because amidst all the doom and gloom is hope in the inherent strength and goodness of this guy and his kid. They carry the fire.
5 out of 5 stars.