The Road

A little bit of ‘Cast Away’ starring Tom Hanks, a little bit of ‘Eli’ starring Denzel Washington but perhaps one of the more depressing movies I’ve seen. Possibly the fact that most of the film’s colour scheme was grey (which works well with the whole ‘end of world’ theme) or conceivably that the ‘Boy’ played by Kodi Smit-McPhee meets a family complete with a disheveled dog was a bit too much for me. Two (2) hours of our main characters running away from cannibals and looking for food to eat really wasn’t my cup of tea. However the theme song is attractive (although heard seldom throughout this movie) and  we got eye-fulls of ‘Man’,  father and main character of the film played by Viggo Mortensen’s arse!

On the brighter side; this 2009 film Written by Cormac McCarthy whom you remember from ‘No Country for Old Men’ and Joe Penhall and Directed by Aussie John Hillcoat scored 15 nominations and 2 wins. There were many thrilling moments, the acting was first-rate and the reality of what life could be for people who yearn to survive seems quite genuine.

This Adventure-Drama had a budget of an estimated $20 million USD and besides gaining countless nominations and awards only made back $8 million USD. It was funny to watch the credits for the cast which were all listed as ‘Man’, ‘Woman’, ‘Bearded Man’, ‘Gang Member’, ‘Well-fed Woman’ etc. I appreciated that the Director tried to help the audience experience emotions of loss and despair from our main characters by showing the close bond between father and son. Mega-actress South-African Charlize Theron also played the part of ‘Woman’ and mother in this film; and although her role was quite small she delivered exceptionally as usual.

Despite the disturbing graphic content in some scenes, I’d have to say that actor Viggo Mortensen’s performance was splendid and viewers can see that he was completely committed to his character’s wants and needs. There were also wonderful cinematic scenes of the decaying and crumbling landscapes our earth had slowly become. Slow, dismal and ordinary at times this film is an amazing one to study but not necessarily one that inspires or offers hope.