Review: The Road Is Raw, Tough and All Kinds of Not Fun

Based on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the postapocalyptic reveals a bleak future that impresses with a raw sense of urgency

Review in a Hurry: Based on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Road is a postapocalyptic tale that's less Mad Max, more Wild West Cloverfield, and it impresses with a raw sense of urgency.

The Bigger Picture: Lawlessness and the open landscape are all that remain for the Man and the Boy trying to survive in bleak and empty post-America.

As the Man, Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings) is like Aragorn hiking through Mordor again, minus the wizards and hobbits. Well, he does have his son, played by newcomer Kodi McPhee, who's a bit too trusting of everyone the pair meets along their way to a fabled West Coast.

Living without is very much the theme here. And the first time you see Viggo's ravaged body and shoddy clothes, you'll realize The Road takes place a long way from the all-you-can-eat Manhattan where Will Smith drove around in a tricked-out Mustang in I Am Legend.

Everyone in the film looks malnourished. They aren't living in fear of simply violence, but the more tangible threat that they might starve or freeze without proper shelter. This might be a bit too eerily real, though, for some audiences, as the film's tension springs from the day-to-day grind. (Finding a can of Coke, as they do, is like striking liquid gold.)

But this struggle over the minute details of living is the reason the film resonates the way it does. When the father and son come face-to-face with anyone other than themselves, there's a powerful sense of shock followed by absolute terror.

And contrary to what you see in the trailers, Charlize Theron (as Kodi's mother) is only in a few scenes, and all of them take place before the story proper.

Readers of the book know this is essentially a road trip of only the father, son and the desperate and crazed wanderers the duo encounter. Robert Duvall shows up as one of these lost souls and is nearly unrecognizable, save for his memorable voice. Garret Dillahunt (Burn Notice) and Guy Pierce (Memento) also make brief cameos. All of them hit just the right tone: scared but possibly not to be trusted.

The true focus of The Road is less about the road they're traveling on and more about the conflict that this journey creates between the father and son. The father knew the world before the global holocaust, but the son knows only the world as it is now. What's so compelling is that both have a very specific way of living and both seem true to their own understandings of the events that unfold. Mostly, we understand why the father is so protective, but there are moments when the son's supposed naiveté seems downright brave.

Director John Hillcoat's previous work was the Australian western The Proposition, and his gift for highlighting how isolated the characters feel on a huge landscape is well served here. Some of the wide shots are a bit hampered by the film's modest budget (and some less than impressive CGI), but for the most part, The Road has a very genuine feeling. Beyond that, it'll leave you exhausted, emotionally spent and with much to ponder.

The 180—a Second Opinion: Those expecting Mad Max 4 will be superbored!