The Road (2009)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

John Hillcoat

Writers:

Cormac McCarthy (novel)
Joe Penhall (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

25 November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A post-apocalyptic tale of a man and his son trying to survive by any means possible.

Plot Keywords:

Post Apocalyptic | Family Relationships | Father Son Relationship | Pulitzer Prize Source | Coca Cola

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Charlize Theron	...	Wife
Viggo Mortensen	...	The Man
Robert Duvall	...	Old Man
Guy Pearce	...	The Veteran
Garret Dillahunt	...	The Gang Member
Brenna Roth	...	Road Gang Leader
Molly Parker	...	Veteran's Wife
Michael K. Williams	...	The Thief
Kodi Smit-McPhee	...	The Boy
Matt Reese	...	Well-Fed Cannibal
Jeremy Ambler	...	Man In Cellar #1
Jared Pfennigwerth	...	Militant Member
David August Lindauer	...	Man On Mattress
Bob Jennings	...	Bearded Man
Jack Erdie	...	Cannibal #1
Nick Pasqual	...	Militant #2
Chaz Moneypenny	...	Man In Cellar #2
Aaron Bernard	...	Militant
Mark Tierno	...	Baby Eater
Kirk Brown	...	Bearded Face
Amy Caroline	...	Woman In Cellar #1
Jarrod DiGiorgi	...	Well-Fed Cannibal
Kacey Byrne-Houser	...	Woman In Cellar #2
Shawn Rolly	...	Road Gang Member
Chris Sechler	...	Ghostly Boy
Kyle Quinn	...	Militant #1
Cerise Weidner	...	Woman In Cellar #3

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44940) | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Abandoned Turnpike Tunnels, Breezewood, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

2929 Productions

Trivia:

The movie's U.S. release date was postponed from November 26, 2008 to October 16, 2009, and then was further delayed to November 25, 2009.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
The Man: Everything depends on reaching the coast. I told you I would do whatever it takes.
Wife: Like what? Like what?

Ruined by an intrusive score

I was expecting this to be a highlight of the London Film Festival, but I found it a little disappointing.

The production design can't be faulted - just about every scene looks as I imagined when reading the book, blasted CGI cityscapes used sparingly to situate real, local desolation redolent of '28 Days Later'. The performances were fine, the use of flashback effective, and the storytelling faithful. Why then did I find it strangely unmoving? Perhaps if I'd come without knowledge of the novel, I wouldn't have found the film too often an exercise in 'box-ticking' of major scenes, lacking real directorial vision. But I think I would still have found Joe Penhall's script rather reductive in its focus on the 'good guys'/'bad guys' dichotomy, as articulated by the boy - throughout, I always wanted to hear more of Viggo's voice-over instead. And I was irritated by the persistently intrusive music, so keen to tell me what to feel about each scene that my emotions rebelled into numbness. When a musical instrument is one of the key motifs dividing idyllic past from bleak present, it's all the more inappropriate to have an orchestra swelling with indiscriminate plangency over everything.

A visual triumph, then, and a passable précis for those who haven't read the book - but if you were hoping for a bold re-imagining of McCarthy's novel, you may find the film wanting.