Road, The

USA 2009, 111 minutes
Dir. John Hillcoat
Rating: [R16]
Genres: Science Fiction, Drama

Topics: Cannibal, Post-Apocalyptic, Disaster.

Feat. Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Michael Kenneth Williams

Aroview: Cormac McCarthy’s much-feted novel about the lengths a father goes to protect his son’s innocence in a post-apocalyptic wasteland is the source material for this unsettling drama of survival and paternal love.

An adequate, if underwhelming film adaptation not entirely at one with the dread, tension, and unlikely tenderness that made McCarthy’s story so unforgettable, dir. Hillcoat nevertheless lays down a vivid, CG-assisted canvas of devastation, while Viggo Mortensen and newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee service the central father-son relationship sensitively, cutting through the doom and gloom without ever tipping into mawkishness. Regular Hillcoat collaborators Nick Cave and Warren Ellis provide the score.

Member Reviews

Average rating (Very Good). Showing 1-3 of 3 member reviews.

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3 stars (Good Enough) A film so heavy on tension and pending doom (if not of our lead characters, then of all humanity) that it at times threatens to outweigh any pleasure gleaned through its watching. A bleaker post-apocalyptic world has never existed. ~Tom H
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5 stars (Exceptional) A very tragic look to the future but this film is just so good. The dirty grade and the brilliant performances from Viggo and Kodi leaves you checking for grit under your fingernails. MUST SEE ~Baby
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5 stars (Exceptional) A very bleak, but compelling depiction of the future with a brilliant performance from Mortensen. ~Wizzums