The Road (2009)
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The Road Movie Review
The Road is a 2009 post-apocalyptic film directed by John Hillcoat and starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee. It’s such a good, very serious movie.
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“If he is not the word of God,
then God never spoke“
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It follows a father and son trying to survive in a harsh post-apocalyptic world. Just like ‘Bird Box’ and similar flicks, The Road never gives us any answers about how the world came out to be this way and I guess I was fine with that choice as the emphasis is solely on the drama and father-son relationship.
That relationship works splendidly as the father’s more unforgiving nature is perfectly contrasted with the son’s humanity and warmth. The scenes where the two clashed were easily the most powerful in the entire film. I did like the cannibal aspect to it, but overall the movie felt a bit too empty and it needed more obstacles and villains in it. In the SF elements it’s weak, but as a drama it’s very strong.
Charlize Theron is ridiculously underused, but Robert Duvall is very memorable in the short time that he got in the film and the same goes for Guy Pearce. Viggo Mortensen is phenomenal in the main role as he always is and definitely highly likable is his protagonist. But Kodi Smit-McPhee was a revelation here. He turned out to be a solid actor in the end, but here as a child actor he showed tremendous promise and he sold all of his emotional moments unbelievably well. This central relationship wouldn’t have been nearly as good hadn’t the two actors delivered such terrific performances.
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The Road definitely needed better world building, effects and cinematography as sometimes it looks striking, but often times it looks rather cheap and uninspired in its execution. But the score is very strong, especially that powerful last theme. I also found the dialogue fantastic and the theme of humanity is beautifully utilized here, leading to a very emotional viewing experience. The pacing itself is very slow and the runtime is long, but the movie still kept my interest as the characters are so well developed and the emotional investment was so high.
The Road often times has a weaker aesthetic and it needed better world building, but it’s still a very strong, captivating movie in spite of its slow pace and long runtime. That’s because the emotional investment is very high, its theme of humanity is wonderfully showcased and the father-son central relationship is fantastic thanks in large part to two terrific performances from Viggo Mortensen and revelatory Kodi Smit-McPhee.
