Review- The Road

Watching The Road, I couldn't help but think of a quote I recently heard on the television series True Detective.  In an interview a man makes a very morbid observation-

"...The hubris it must take to yank a soul out of nonexistence, into this... meat.  And to force a life into this, thresher.  Yeah so my daughter, she spared me the sin of being a father."

More than with that show, this quote rings true in the world of The Road- a world first imagined by Cormac McCarthy (acclaimed author of No Country For Old Men) and brought to chilling "life" by director John Hillcoat.  Put mildly, The Road is no feel-good flick.  Rather it examines the darkest elements of humanity at our most desperate and refuses to blink.  On the surface this film tells the story of a man and his son's struggle for survival in a dystopian future.  And at face value, the film is nothing short of stunning.  But The Road is also, at its very best, an examination of the things we do for our children.  Using both major and minor plot devices to brutally drive its point home, The Road is a unique experience.  Not a fun experience, but undeniably unique.

The Road opens with a brief glimpse of a beautiful landscape before plunging us into its world of filth and violence.  The year is unclear, but we find ourselves somewhere in the near future.  Life all but ceases to exist.  Plant and animal life has vanished entirely and the traces of human life are rapidly disappearing as the food supply has dried up.  A character known only as The Man (played with typical brilliance by Viggo Mortensen) begins a hopeless voiceover monologue.  He provides the exposition in a few defeated sentences.  Perhaps most troubling is that this apocalypse of sorts is just as inexplicable to the people inhabiting this tattered world as to those of us viewing it on a screen.  A bright light came, and everything died.  That is about as much explanation as we are ever given, or need for that matter.

The first bit of action we get is of The Man and his son, known only as The Boy (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) running for cover.  We see a single light coming down a tunnel which is slowly revealed as one of the many cannibal gangs that plague the remains of America.  One of the gang separates from the group to relieve himself and stumbles across The Man and The Boy.  The Man instructs the, well other man, that should he so much as look in the direction of The Boy, he'll shoot him with his revolver.  The cannibal calls his bluff and observes that The Man only has enough ammo to kill himself and The Boy and that The Man has likely never killed a man in his life.  Neither confirmed nor denied, The Man makes good on his promise and kills the cannibal, immediately fleeing deeper into the woods with The Boy.  He explains to the boy that they will never become what those men had become, even to survive.  We are the good guys.  They are the bad guys.

In a series of flashbacks it is revealed that The Boy was born into this world.  During the beginning days of the apocalypse The Woman (Charlize Theron) gives birth to The Boy.  Seeing the hopelessness of the world, she eventually decides to leave, though not before giving one of the most brief and heart-wrenching performances of her career.  The Woman disappears into the dark, unforgiving night never to be seen again.  It is a cruel mercy, but a mercy all the same as she points out that there are only 2 bullets in the revolver.  The Boy's only chance is with The Man.

The Boy and The Man continue along the road headed south, hoping to find warmer temperatures. They come across an abandoned storm shelter that is as close to heaven as the pair are likely to see in their travels.  The shelter is stocked with food, water and other survival necessities.  Hearing a dog and figuring people must be close behind, The Man hurries away from the shelter, loading as much as he can onto a cart. As they move they encounter other travelers, thieves, and families.  Most notably they run across an old man (Robert Duvall).  Initially The Man refuses to extend any sort of help to the man, who is clearly in need of it.  But after much coaxing from The Boy he gives in.  The Man and The Old Man have a conversation about God and their existence before The Old Man indicates that he doesn't think about death because he can't afford that "luxury".  This gives the man pause before he must once again set back out on The Road.

Before long The Man and The Boy reach the coast.  For those expecting Cocoa Beach, think more along the lines of the Jersey Shore.  It's a filthy hellhole of a beach, but provides an opportunity to bathe all the same.  As The Man bathes, The Boy sleeps.  The Man returns to find that they have been robbed and hobbles, shoeless, after the culprit.  Upon catching him, The Man uncharacteristically robs him of all of his possessions, including his shoes and underwear.  The Robber, alone and naked, begs or mercy as The Man and The Boy walk away.  Again, after much coaxing The Boy is able to convince the man to return The Robber's possessions, though he is nowhere to be found.  They leave the clothes and a can of their own food where they last saw The Robber and continue on.

The final scenes involve a shoot-out that sees The Man wounded, likely fatally.  The Boy's fate is all that remains.  To preserve the ending, we'll stop there, but sufficed to say it is similar in tone to No Country For Old Men.

The Road will leave an impression on anybody who sees it, that much is certain.  And honestly it is hard to say if it is a "good" film or not.  I would say more than good or bad, it is an important film.  It examines the hells we will wade through for our children, and the way they shape our character even in the face of dire adversity.  One common theme throughout the film is mercy killing.  At the end of just about every scene, The Man is left with a decision.  Does he kill his son and himself, or does he press on?  The exercise gets a bit played out, but is occasionally used to great effect.  The most memorable of these scenes is when The Man and The Boy are trapped in the bathroom of a house, cannibals closing in.  As the cannibals creep up the stairs, The Man presses the revolver to The Boy's head and pulls back the hammer while his finger twitches on the trigger.  More than most films, whether this is a good bit of conflict or a graphic misnomer is left entirely up to the film's viewer.  I tend to side with a good portion of the conflict stepping a bit further than what is actually needed.  If there is so much at stake, then why does The Man allow The Boy to scream when there are cannibals with assault rifles just yards away?  The film seems to meander in its graphic moments with little continuity to reinforce its sense if danger.  I have no problem with a film being graphic.  But if that is the direction you are going to take it in, you need to remain true to it when it is convenient as well as when it's inconvenient.  We only allow you to show us these ugly images under the pretense that there is a purpose behind it and when a young boy is conveniently allowed to scream even while he is deep in hiding, it makes us call bullshit on the entire environment you have worked so hard to craft.

Beyond the material, the cinematography brings McCarthy's world to stunning, depressing life.  The use of oranges, browns, blacks, and grays communicate better than any dialogue, just what state America has fallen to.  The camerawork is nothing short of masterful.  The long shots of the sweeping landscape are somehow beautiful, and peaceful in stark contrast to the close-ups which remain visceral and violent.

But the performances are what really bring this somber tale to death (saying they brought it to life seemed just a bit contrary to the themes of the film).  Viggo Mortensen is excellent, as always.  No surprise there.  However it is his counterpart, the young Kodi Smit-McPhee who really blew me away. He matches Mortensen, stride-for-stride, in what has to be some of the heaviest material in Tinsel Town.  His insistence that The Man continue to do the right thing even when it runs opposite to their own survival remains the heart of the story, without which would be unwatchably bleak.  Great performances by Charlize Theron, Michael K. Williams (of The Wire fame) and Robert Duvall round out what is sure to be the least fun you'll have watching a meaningful film for quite some time.  Or at least until you decide to watch Requiem for a Dream.

Overall Rating- 6/10