The Road (2009)

My Rating: 8.5/10

Directed by: John Hillcoat

Based on the novel by: Cormac McCarthy

Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure

Runtime: 112 Minutes

The Road is a compelling story of survival with a whole lot of drama. I will consider this film a tear-jerker because of how sad the film gets towards the end, because you grow attached to the struggle of the characters. The film is extremely drama toned and was great the whole way through. It had some moments with tension, and others with very big shocks. When I think of The Road I think of how our two characters, father and son struggle for survival along the way meeting few people. Great screenplay, but cannot praise originality as it is adapted from a book. Regardless, they did an excellent job putting on screen. The atmosphere was amazing and made you feel lost and confused in a world where basically everything is pretty much gone. Overall The Road is a fantastic film. I am new to the director John Hillcoat but he did an excellent job with the direction and cinematography in this film.

Plot: The story takes place after an apocalyptic event happening, and now everything has been destroyed, destroyed, destroying civilization. Few are alive in the world and the story of our main character that is nameless so I will refer to him as just plain ‘Man’. With several haunting flashbacks the man has, the story unravels of the reason they are where they are now. The man and his son just keep walking on the symbolic ‘Road’, hence the title, and make several encounters with other people. It is a straight forward plot with the total goal being you don’t know when it’s going to end.

The Man with his son.

Powerful Acting:

The acting was grand in this film. The performance from Viggo Mortnesen as the man was very powerful and true. I was impressed with the young star Codi-Smit McPhee. He gave a very strong performance and hopefully his face returns in Hollywood. Al the acting was superb within the few characters that appear and they all give very believable performances as if this really where happening. The amount of emotion in this film is astounding. About 10 minutes into the story you get teary-eyed and understand the position our characters are in. some of the best acting of that year, being 2009 beside films like Up, Coraline, Avatar and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The film has several emotional scenes and brought a few tears to my eyes I shall honestly say. If this film doesn’t move you in some way, shape or form, then I have one question for you. Are you human?

A very organic and natural look:

The style of the film I also grace because of how authentic it felt. The whole dark atmosphere was great. The wreckage and destruction of the locations where very well done. The abandoned houses, the destroyed vehicles and stores, it all looked brilliant. It made you feel in a much desolated area that was once lived in, but now in ruins. The cinematography and editing was superb and I just thought it was excellent.

Overview:

A pretty short review, but there are not many characters in the film and the film has a straightforward drama story. The man and boy have a strong relationship, and the boy is the reason the man keeps on going. It is a very empathetic approach to those who are parents as most of them love their children very much, and that’s coming from someone who does NOT have children. The man tells the boy that “We are the good guys” and saying how they are not going to resort to cannibalism. The film gets very edgy at some points with a few shocks and moments of tension. The title is relevant to how the whole venture is played out. The Road basically means he road to the core destruction of every person, which the man and boy stay away from. Towards the end someone says to the boy “you’ll have to stay off the road” which gives an explanation of it’s meaning. It’s very clever and inventive. Filled with grand acting, brilliant style and a straightforward plot, The Road is a dramatic venture of the struggle of survival. It is a brilliant film well worth checking out.

Ratings:

Screenplay/Story: 8.7/10

Characters: 8.3/10

Emotion: 8.9/10

Visuals & Editing: 8.7/10

Direction & Cinematography: 8.5/10

Music: 8.1/10
Overall: 8.5/10