Review of The Rover (2014) by Kym B — 08 Dec 2014

Bleak and depressing to a fault, The Rover captures the fall of society well despite not exaggerating what is shown. Following the fictional fall of the global economy, director David Michôd's Australia has regressed in many ways from the influx of rampant crime, the drastic shift in the importance of the national currency, to the scattered military outposts attempting to maintain order through the outback. In the midst of all this, the recluse Eric finds his car being stolen, causing a relentless pursuit through the desert to retrieve his car, which the injured Rey is dragged into, as the duo's journey takes them - and the audience - through some rather dark places in this iteration of a dystopian Australia.

The strength of what is shown is gauged with how Michôd manages to deftly distract his audience from the intentionally flimsy premise of Eric chasing after his car - when he could just steal a new one -, and to instead focus on The Rover's two leads and the areas they traverse, rather than focusing on the dusty heap of metal that Eric is obsessed with.

Skilfully shot and directed, The Rover's insistence on willfully bringing the movie to a standstill whenever Michôd feels a need to develop the characters of Eric and Rey - as individuals and as a duo - more often than not throws the pacing off slightly. While this won't be a problem for those that enjoy movies where scenes screech to a halt to build its characters and for the audience to take in the atmosphere, unfortunately it would be for those expecting The Rover to be non-stop adrenaline ride through the fly-abundant Australian outback.

Relying on his powerful body and facial language, Guy Pearce delivers a noteworthy performance as the violent and angry Eric, whose motivations involving the car fuelling the rage within him that Pearce conveys perfectly through a mostly physical performance that has been crafted to survive Michôd's fictional Australia. Squeezing every underutilized acting muscle in him that has laid dormant since the start of a mundane career as a sparkling pale corpse that he visibly came to loathe at a personal level, Robert Pattinson delivers his most dramatic role to date as the slow-witted, sheltered Rey, and alongside his angry co-star, the two actors successfully bring their own nuanced charm to The Rover's bleak, violent setting.