"The Road"

The Road
Rated R // Is it worth $10? Yes; Hudak grades it a ‘B+’

By Dan Hudak // hudakonhollywood.com

“Whoever made humanity will find no humanity here. No sir.” –The Old Man

As far as visions of the future go, “The Road” is as bleak as they come. There is no clock to tell time, and no calendar to mark the days. For unknown reasons the Earth is dying, and the remnants of mankind have turned against one another in a desperate struggle to stay alive.

Among the surviving detritus of humanity are a father and son, known simply as “Man” (Viggo Mortensen) and “Boy” (Kodi Smit-McPhee).

Though we get occasional glimpses of life before the apocalypse via scenes with their wife/mother (Charlize Theron), most of the film follows Man and Boy as they travel south (away from the cold) and search for food. Always dirty and uncomfortable, they encounter various strangers along the way: The kind Old Man (Robert Duvall) who needs help, the Thief (Michael Kenneth Williams) who, like them, is just trying to survive, and the Veteran (Guy Pearce) who has his own family to care for. Through it all, danger lurks as savage cannibals are everywhere and a constant threat.

Director John Hillcoat does a great job of creating a tone of impending doom, and production designer Chris Kennedy deserves an Oscar nomination for creating a world that’s so barrenly dead. But what really sticks out about “The Road,” which is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy (author of “No Country for Old Men”) and was adapted by Joe Penhall, is how realistic it feels. If the end of the world were near, it’s plausible that people would either lose the will to live and/or do anything to survive, and such existential extremes inevitably lead to unstable behavior.

Both Hillcoat and McCarthy clearly understand this dynamic, and yet find unbroken humanity in a father who, regardless of circumstance, is still taking care of his son as best he can. It’s quite touching, really, to see love survive in a time when everything else is dying. Mortensen will likely earn an Oscar nomination for his tortured performance, but give credit to newcomer Smit-McPhee as well: He has the presence to hang with Mortensen, and provokes sympathy from viewers as we learn that this dilapidated world is the only one he’s ever known. 

The themes and images in “The Road” are intense throughout, including a handful of shocking moments that aren’t necessarily graphic, but they are startling. Eventually, the 116-minute running time feels draining, as there’s not much comic relief to lighten the tone. But the tone shouldn’t be lightened. This is a grim, brutal story that’s powerfully told and expertly acted. So brace yourself, see it and be ready to appreciate life as we know it.