The Road Review

The Road isn't on the top 1000 films of all time.  However, the Road was inspired by Cormac McCarthy's book of the same name, which I have just finished reading.

The Road follows an unnamed father (Viggo Mortenson) and son (Kodi Smit-Phee) as they walk across a post-apocalyptic America, trying to reach the coast.  On the way they meet other refugees, thieves and cannibals who inhabit the road

Judging from that description, you'd think The Road is a downbeat and disturbing film and you'd be right.  I was incredibly depressed after I had finished watching it, which works to its advantage.  It pulls no punches when exhibiting the darker side of humanity.  One particular chilling scene sees the father and sons tumble across a group of people who are being kept imprisoned to be eaten by cannibals.  This was a frightening scene and rightly so.  This is what a post-apocalyptic world would be like and it would be insulting to portray it any other way.

However, it isn't dark throughout.  While the more light-hearted moments are few and far between, they do exist particular in reference to the father and son's relationship.  The son acts a moral compass helping to anchor the father's fleeting humanity.  For example even after the father and son are robbed by a thief (Michael Kenneth Williams,) the son pleads with his father not to kill the thief.  There are also flashbacks showing the father's life of pre-apocalypse, including moments with his wife (Charlize Theron) who opted out.  These moments were important in providing something for the audience to latch onto.

For the most part, John Hillcoat's adaptation was very faithful to to the book.  It captures the horrific moments, but also the more human.  However, he also stayed faithful to the book's infuriating vagueness.  Apart from an old traveller called Ely (Robert Duvall), and Ely could just be an alias, there are no named characters in the film.  Furthermore, the film is also vague about the location or what the actual apocalypse was.  We know it's America, but we don't know where.

Now I can understand why Cormac McCarthy did this, and by extension, why John Hilcoat adapted it so loyally. Firstly, by making it so general, it could apply to anyone.  The unnamed father is an everyman who could be any father.  The desolate American landscape could just as easily be somewhere in Europe.  And this is what makes it so scary.  Secondly, any revelation about the apocalypse could detract from the central theme of the film: how to preserve your humanity in such an unforgiving environment.

I understand and respect this, but I'd argue, as one IMDB reviewer argued, "you start to disassociate from the main characters." I felt this about the book too.  The fact that we know practically nothing about the characters made it difficult for me to identify with them.  It stopped them from becoming real.  They could have been just "anyone," rather than special, memorable characters.

Overall, while The Road is irritatingly vague and general, it still also teaches powerful lessons about what it means to be human.