The Rundown
A softly-spoken but visceral look at the end of days.
Why not try The Proposition, The Book of Eli
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Review by Geoff Scaplehorn
On the surface, The Road, based on the book by Cormac McCarthey, looks like post-apocalyptic science fiction. So much so, in fact, that the marketers responsible for the trailer got confused themselves and created a trailer with explosions and running and shouting.
There are not a lot of explosions in The Road. There is some running, but mostly the characters are too tired to go anything but walk. There is also some shouting, but not very much, and not very often.
The Road paints a quiet picture of the end of the world. The film, like the world, is cold and bleak and grey. It is certainly post-apocalyptic, but it is not science fiction.
The plot, which is generally faithful to the book, is simple: a man and his son – whose names we do not learn – are walking south in hopes of finding somewhere more habitable, but their journey is beset by bandits and cannibals and the spectre of starvation. Director John Hillcoat never shies away from showing us the brutal truths of the world: at one stage, we see a cellar full of literally broken people – a farm for cannibalistic diets.
Viggo Mortensen brings his usual intense seriousness to the role of the father – he is an actor who rarely seems to smile, and he flourishes in the grey world of The Road. Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the brittle son with aplomb, but the real stars of the show are the cameos: Deadwood’s Garret Dillahunt steals an early portion of the film as an unnamed gang member, while Robert Duvall chews on the scenery later as an old traveller. Guy Pearce turns up for about eight seconds, and Charlize Theron props up a number of flashbacks as Mortensen’s former wife and the mother of the boy.
Even so, The Road still feels like a two-man show. It is a credit to both Mortensen and Smit-McPhee that they keep our interest throughout. Mortensen in particular is believable as a man who would rather murder his own son than see him overcome by the harsh world around them.
By the end of The Road, we have – like Mortensen’s character – become so involved in the brutality of the world that we find it difficult to believe that anyone in the world is capable of kindness. However, the boy – who has no memory of the world before the end – represents an optimism that is not present anywhere else. This ensures that the film, while shocking in its imagery, is never depressing.
Indeed, the brief moments of hope in the film, even during its tragic denouement, ultimately serve to make it an uplifting experience. The Road can never be described as a joyful experience, but it is thoroughly engrossing and – like the book it was based on – one of the best available examples of post-apocalyptic fiction.
There are not a lot of explosions in The Road. There is some running, but mostly the characters are too tired to go anything but walk. There is also some shouting, but not very much, and not very often.
The Road paints a quiet picture of the end of the world. The film, like the world, is cold and bleak and grey. It is certainly post-apocalyptic, but it is not science fiction.
The plot, which is generally faithful to the book, is simple: a man and his son – whose names we do not learn – are walking south in hopes of finding somewhere more habitable, but their journey is beset by bandits and cannibals and the spectre of starvation. Director John Hillcoat never shies away from showing us the brutal truths of the world: at one stage, we see a cellar full of literally broken people – a farm for cannibalistic diets.
Viggo Mortensen brings his usual intense seriousness to the role of the father – he is an actor who rarely seems to smile, and he flourishes in the grey world of The Road. Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the brittle son with aplomb, but the real stars of the show are the cameos: Deadwood’s Garret Dillahunt steals an early portion of the film as an unnamed gang member, while Robert Duvall chews on the scenery later as an old traveller. Guy Pearce turns up for about eight seconds, and Charlize Theron props up a number of flashbacks as Mortensen’s former wife and the mother of the boy.
Even so, The Road still feels like a two-man show. It is a credit to both Mortensen and Smit-McPhee that they keep our interest throughout. Mortensen in particular is believable as a man who would rather murder his own son than see him overcome by the harsh world around them.
By the end of The Road, we have – like Mortensen’s character – become so involved in the brutality of the world that we find it difficult to believe that anyone in the world is capable of kindness. However, the boy – who has no memory of the world before the end – represents an optimism that is not present anywhere else. This ensures that the film, while shocking in its imagery, is never depressing.
Indeed, the brief moments of hope in the film, even during its tragic denouement, ultimately serve to make it an uplifting experience. The Road can never be described as a joyful experience, but it is thoroughly engrossing and – like the book it was based on – one of the best available examples of post-apocalyptic fiction.
People
Directed By
John Hillcoat
Written By
Cormac McCarthy, Joe Penhall
Produced By
Marc Butan, Mark Cuban, Erik Hodge, Paula Mae Schwartz, Steve Schwartz, Rudd Simmons, Todd Wagner, Nick Wechsler
Starring
Charlize Theron,
Viggo Mortensen,
Guy Pearce,
Robert Duvall,
Garret Dillahunt,
Molly Parker,
Kodi Smit-McPhee,
Michael K. Williams,
Brenna Roth,
Matt Reese,