Reviewed by Justin Bateman
Stars Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Michael Kenneth Williams, Molly Parker,
Garret Dillahunt, Buddy Sosthand, Agnes Herrmann
Written by John Penhall
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 111 minutes
Directed by John Hillcoat
Post-apocalyptic films seem to be all the rage in the last year or so. Off the top of my head, there’s been 9, The Age Of Stupid, 2012, as well as the forthcoming The Book Of Eli but I’d be surprised if any even come close to being as profoundly moving as The Road. Based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, this big screen adaptation is virtually flawless.
A decade or so after the mysterious event which has all but eradicated life on earth, a man (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) are travelling south in the United States, heading for the coast and with any luck, a better life. For there is nothing left but rubble, ash and other starving people which means that as well as the threat of starvation, cannibalism is rife. Desperate times have created monsters of people and this is truly the survival of the fittest, not to mention the most ruthless.
For all director John Hillcoat’s impressively washed out world – “Each day is more gray than the one before” – it is the father’s love for his boy which is the most striking feature of the story. The fight for life and the willingness to do whatever it takes to survive and protect the one he loves is writ large on Mortensen’s face throughout as he carries the weight of his responsibilities single-handedly. As well as looking after the boy, he has his own demons to face in the form of the past, a heartbreaking sequence of events with his wife (Theron) which we see in flashback.
Quite apart from the challenges faced simply to survive is his battle to make his son understand how best to stay alive and interact with other people they meet. He constantly assures his son that they are the good guys but situations soon arise in which the boy questions his morality. Should you help anyone else? If so, to what extent? And if they do wrong to you, should you show compassion or do worse in return? By raising these questions, the viewer is forced into the same ethical quandaries.
The acting accolades will quite rightly go to Viggo Mortensen who really ought to at least be Oscar nominated for his portrayal of a man physically and emotionally spent. But young Kodi Smit-McPhee is excellent as well, conveying the feelings of the ten-year-old boy superbly and more than holding his own with the sensational Mortensen. Makes no mistake, on the surface this is about as bleak a story as you’re likely to encounter. But beneath the grim exterior there is always the “fire within” shining through the gloom, however dimly.