The Road review

I've found that allowing things based on the work of author Cormac McCarthey to sit in you a while tends to help with the expressing of feelings about his work. When I first watched the Coen brothers "No Country for Old Men" I waited nearly a week before writing the review. This is McCarthey's second film adaptation of late, but he's had at least three, the oldest being "All the Pretty Horses" which was... umm... well I wasn't so keen on it. "The Road" is definitely one that's had me swinging both ways and I have read the book before seeing the film although it was some years ago; probably around the height of the books success.

As a story "The Road" is harrowing and beautiful. It's a fathers love of his son despite how horrid the world is or rather what's left of it. It's also his selfishness in wanting to continue when things are as bad as they are. The juxtaposition of such was that of his wife played in flashbacks by Charlize Theron. She in fact never wants to give birth to their son and after he's become a young boy, doesn't want him to have endure the horrors that world has to offer. Viggo Mortensen plays the father known simply as 'Man' in the story and film just as Kodi Smit-McPhee is known as 'Boy'. Both of their performances are brave and strong as they have to be. We are with them constantly and never leave them and with that we see that love and respect that they have for one another. At the same time you also see their degree of clashing where Man thinks that there is no good left and for Boy to think that it would be the death of them both.

In addition to that "The Road" offers a great score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis who also scored "The Assassination of Jesse James" and director John Hillcoat's film prior to this, the gritty Australian western "The Proposition". Hillcoat is a fantastic director as tends to tell his stories less through words and more through the power of the imagine on screen. "The Proposition" is an amazing picture on a dozen levels and one is the beautiful and foreboding imagery. The harsh and yet magnificent look of the Outback and the nasty, gritty people doing deeds within it. "The Road" has many strong images as well. Hillcoat gives us some of those shots of gray, dead cities and burning buildings, but he also shows us other areas. He shows us the dying forests and oceans. Takes us to places less seen in post apocalyptic films.

But here is where we come to a wall. Many people will not like this film and it's perfectly understandable. And I'll go one step further and deliver this nugget out there, the film has no climax. This is not an action film or a thriller. It's a survival and family drama in a setting we're not too use to seeing that type of film in. Thus to some extent what you see is what you get. You get two people walking and living and occasionally having to forcefully deal with the devils of the new world, but more so deal with the biggest enemy which is the elements. Keeping warm and dry and not starving the death or allowing their own paranoia consume them. It's really an interesting story, but I should say know what it is you're walking into first.

For me "The Road" has many strong elements and themes and I'm not quite ready to take them all in just yet. For me I think I need to get a little of them unresolved exciting post apocalypse out of my system since last year that didn't happen. So here's hoping the Hughes brothers and "The Book of Eli" can provide that (which from what I've heard they do). So for the time being I feel a bit cold on "The Road". I feel like down the line my feelings might strengthen, but not particularly lessen, but I'll need time. It's something I'd go back to see on DVD and see how I feel then knowing what I know now. And yes it is somewhat difficult to write a review on a film when you're feelings towards it are as clouded as this. I kind of wish there was 2 3/4 I could throw out, but that doesn't work with my set up. The last time I felt this way about a film was Terrence Malik's "The New World" and with time it has made me look upon it much more pleasingly then it did upon that first viewing. So who knows, in a few months I may re-review "The Road" and see how I feel then. But for now I'm going with this...

"The Road" ** 1/2 out of ****