The Road

In a post-apocalyptic future, an unnamed man (Viggo Mortensen) must protect his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) from starvation, the elements and cannibalistic gangs as they make their way through a never-ending wasteland to the coast.

Director John Hillcoat’s (The Proposition) adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is high on fidelity to the source material and therein lies a significant problem. Both his film and McCarthy’s book are, save for a spark of hope at the end, relentlessly, almost monotonously bleak. As readers, we can process the despair over a period of time, but as viewers we are forced to absorb it all in one sitting



That major caveat aside, there’s a lot here that’s very well-done. Mortensen gives a powerful, desperate performance as a dedicated father. McPhee is annoyingly naïve at times as his son, but it’s a thoroughly believable turn as well. The family’s late mother, shown in flashbacks, was given a larger part in the film and Charlize Theron brings some heft to a largely thankless role. The remaining supporting parts are little more than cameos. Robert Duvall shows up as an old man while Michael K. Williams, better-known as The Wire’s Omar Little, plays another thief.



As game as the cast is, the film wouldn’t work if Hillcoat couldn’t translate the world of the novel to screen. Fortunately, he nails it to a T. McCarthy’s trademark landscapes are all here: miles upon miles of empty gray skies, of ruined vehicles clogging up the highways, of corpses left to rot in abandoned homes. It isn’t pretty, but it’s a sight to behold just the same.



When all is said and done, The Road emerges as a good film, but not an enjoyable one. It will drain you and leave you marveling at what you just saw, but you’ll also be left with little incentive to see it again.



7.5/10