Review of The Rover (2014) by Manny C — 08 Jul 2014

Even if you've had enough post-apocalyptic movies, you should still step right up for The Rover, the latest from Australian writer-director David Michod, whose 2010 debut feature, Animal Kingdom, was a sign of a filmmaker worth following anywhere.

Set about a decade from now, The Rover is a world of a hellish landscape where economic catastrophe has reduced all the world to a desert wasteland. Eric, played terrifically the great Guy Pearce, is perfectly content to drink his life away in a shitty bar. but three criminals--an American (Scoot McNairy) and white Australian (David Field) and a black New Zealander (Tawanda Manyimo)--have wrecked their truck and stolen Eric's car. Eric wants it back. Why? No fair telling. Also not worth spoiling is the reason Eric picks up Rey (Robert Pattinson), the American thief's mentally challenged brother, who is also wounded.

The Rover plays like a ass-kicking modern Western that takes the terms good and evil and turns them on their head. The desolation surrounded the characters is rendered beautifully by Michod and cinematographer Natasha Braier. And Pearce and Pattinson are amazing together. Pattinson, finally free of Twilight bullshit, displays the acting chops you always knew were there, especially in the explosive climax. In exploring the minds of two men trying to salvage the torn humanity, Michod offers up a blistering, vital vision. See it.