FILM CHALLENGE: 81) The Road

81) The Road

Director: John Hillcoat
Year: 2009

Plot Summary: A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. Their destination is the warmer south, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing: just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless cannibalistic bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a rusting shopping cart of scavenged food--and each other.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is my favourite novel of all time. Therefore, the first time I saw the adaptation of the movie I was, obviously, a little disappointed. While the book had me staying up reading for nights on end because I cared so deeply about the father and his son, the film didn't grip me quite as emotion as McCarthy's Pulitzer prize winner did. While the book was so harrowing that it altered my entire view of the world, the movie isn't anywhere near as unforgettable. And while I read The Road with tears constantly running down my cheeks, Hillcoat's adaptation was mostly unable to provide the same emotional response.

However, to compare the two, I have realised on my second viewing of the movie, is unfair. The film isn't the book and, despite how hard it is, I tried my best to separate my love for the novel from my expectations of the movie. By doing this, I realised that there is a lot to admire about Hillcoat's adaptation.

After all, the desperate measures that Viggo Mortenson's unnamed character goes to in order to maintain his son's innocence, safety and well-being in the face of such suffering and evil remains as powerful as it did in the book. Seeing him teach his son how to shoot himself to avoid suffering at the hands of cannibals, for example, will leave even the most hard of hearts touched. Mortenson's performance as the man is stunning and he proves that he is one of the most dedicated, hard-working actors in Hollywood today.

The boy is also a fantastic character as someone who has born after the disaster and only had his father's stories to understand what the world before it was like. When he is given a drink of coke found at the bottom of an old vending machine, his wonder provides one of the most touching moments of the movie while his questions about whether the sea will be blue when they reach the coast provides some of the most heart-aching. For such a young actor in such a demanding role, Kodi Smit McPhee is very impressive.

While it's these characters and their relationship that provides the heart of the movie, it's Robert Duvall who steals the show though as an old man they encounter on the road. His character simply provides a further inside into the harsh world of the story and helps bring to light many of the biblical, philosophical undertones of the movie, but if you take one look into Duvall's sad eyes you see a character who has years of memories behind him. It's only a small role, but Duvall gives it a level of depth that even McCarthy's book couldn't rival.

Moreover, the film of The Road has been able to capture the stark yet poetic style of the author's prose rather well through the direction and cinematography that is filled with both hopelessness and beauty. Using many real locations in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina also gives it the realistic gut-punch that McCarthy achieved through his words. The shots of long stretches of road left in ruins and an old ship washed up in the middle of a highway among some of the movie's most breathtaking moments.

Sure, it's nowhere near as good as the source novel as it still feels rushed and lacks the emotional punch that makes Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece unforgettable, but The Road is nevertheless a good adaptation and remains a heartbreaking study of a father's love for his son.

4/5

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments