The Road

There is no bleaker a film than The Road. For, no matter what horrors occur in any other narrative film, the world is still out there. It beckons and hopes that the depressed parties will see the light. In The Road, there is no bright future. Rather, the characters attempt to keep humanity alive within themselves. The father tells the son stories of justice and morality--which are absent here. The Road is based on the book by Cormac McCarthy. In The Road, McCarthy created a devastating portrait of the world, but tenderly mentioned the relationship between a father and son who still fought for survival in a post-apocolypse world. The film is unique because it doesn't try to explain what happened, but rather explains what is happening. The scenery is so well done and convincing. The whole film is grey, and when a coke bottle appears in one of the few happy scenes, it shines with color. It's very well done, and an achievement to film what is unfilmable. It follows the book very well, it's very scary, and very depressing. The end is just what is inevitable--we understand it well after going through the day-to-day with the father and son. The acting here is also very good. Viggo Mortensen is creepy and convincing as the father, Robert Duvall appears as a scripture-esque blind man, and Kodi-Smitt McPhee is quite good as the son. The entire film is an achievement, it's interesting and compelling: one of the best of 2009.
The Road: ★★★1/2