Review of The Road (2009) by Roddersj04 — 01 Jan 2011

The Road: A tale of a father and a son making their way across a trechorous wasteland, heading south, hoping to find others whilst being cautious of those around them. First things first: This is a grim film.

You can see that just by looking at the surroundings. Corpses swinging from nooses, trees void of life, crashing to the ground one by one, snow stained with blood, water dirty as hell. It is quite the spectacle, yet for something so horrific looking, it is quite beautiful.

Striking, how the director has perfectly captured the film's tone. It isn't just the surroundings that are bleak, the characters successfully empthasise this as well. Groups, in order to survive, slautering innocent people.

Theres a scene in the film of a woman and her child being chased by a large group of these savages, where the surroundings are skulls displayed on pikes and the aformentioned blood stained snow. Food is scarce in this post-apocalyptic world, so one group keep people chained in a basement, to bring them out and kill them one by one, for sustenence.

The father knows that the world is a bleak place, and his one driving point is his son. He teaches his son how to shoot himself in the head, if the time ever comes. He keeps two bullets in a gun specifically for them two, if the time ever comes.

He very nearly shoots his son, so that a savage group do not take him to be chained and later eaten. The characters have become paranoid in this world, with the father not trusting any one in case they could be a cannibal, not trusting Ely, refusing to let him come with them for their food wouldn't last long, and he would slow them down.

At one point, a woman shoots the man with an arrow and he kills her husband with a flare gun, because they both believe the other was following them. This shows how paranoia has set into these characters lives, how they cannot trust anyone, because it could spell for their end.

Kudos to the actors of this piece. They all perform their roles perfectly, from Charlize Therons suicidal mother, not wanting to live in such a terrible world, to The Thief, whom instantly regrets robbing the main characters.

Viggo Mortenson and Kodi Smith-Mcfee perfectly play their roles as father and son. You truly believe their roles, and their character relationship. The man's death, whilst his son is curled upto him, is a scene which, i'm not ashamed to say, brought a tear to my eyes.

The ending of this film really shows the boys trusting ways paying off, as he now travels with a family, across the trechorous landscape.