The Road

The Road

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce

Directed by: John Hillcoat

Reviewed by: Conor Flynn







The Road was a film that I was looking forward to seeing, not only because it is based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, but due to the fact that it was director John Hillcoat’s follow up to his vicious, yet lyrical masterpiece, ‘The Proposition’. Add to this Hillcoat’s long time collaboration with musician Nick Cave and, on paper at least, this looked like a certified masterpiece in the making…

An unidentified catastrophe has left the world devastated; all the animals have died, while the earth has been left scorched. Viggo Mortensen plays an unidentified man, known only as Poppa to his child (Smit-McPhee). The promise of a better life supposedly awaits them at the coastline, but many obstacles lie in wait, including the threat of cannibalistic tribes.

You may recall that this film should have been released at the end of 2008 and not at the beginning of 2010. Word has it that the film was pulled from its original release date due to the harrowing nature of the initial cut. I get the suspicion that a (superior) director’s cut will appear in future, but for the moment we are left with a visually astonishing film, with an engaging storyline. The film has some incredibly gripping moments, in particular, two scenes in which the father must decide whether or not to shoot his own son. Another plus is that the events surrounding the cataclysm are left ambiguous which is very refreshing. The acting is generally strong; Smit-McPhee’s performance works best, and though only in the film for a short time, Charlize Theron leaves a haunting mark. Some will delight in Robert Duvall’s Oscar-baiting cameo, but it seems out of place with the rest of the film.

As for Mortensen, I have issues with his performance and character, but mostly because of the use of his voiceover. What worked in the novel well feels mechanised here. What is problematic with the story is the level of emotional attachment the audience has with his character. Poppa remembers the past with his deceased wife (Theron), but is devoid of any positive emotion, mostly focusing on events such as a traumatic child birth. With the exception of one moment spent with Poppa and the boy at a waterfall, his emotions tend to be indistinguishable; this makes it hard to connect with his character.

Strangely, much like Mortensen’s voiceover, Nick Cave and Warren Eillis’s score feels intrusive. The closing moments to the film are pretty rushed, resulting in a feeling of deus ex machina. Add to this a bit of southern caricaturing, along with some debatable product placement and you’re left slightly wanting.

For fans of the novel, this adaptation will feel neutered of its poetic horror, the exact thing which Hillcoat brought so successfully to ‘The Proposition’. There seems to be a very good drama buried inside this film, but at the moment it doesn’t feel fully realised.