Continuing the trend with doom and gloom and all things apocalyptic, Aragorn and his son hit the road, literally. Set in the not too distant future, John Hillcoats, The Road highlights a more realistic interpretation to the end of the world…as we know it.
Viggo Mortensen plays, according to the IMDB, Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Boy. In other words, father and son. The movie starts off with Mortensen running a bath with a eerie yellow glow being outside the house. No idea what the yellow glow is! It could be anything from a bomb, a fire or a traffic light stuck on amber. Either way, to the audience, this signifies that something isn’t quite right. Viggo quickly fills up the bath and quickly informs his wife that he isn’t going for a swim with his rubber ducky. He obviously realises whats going on, and that water will be vitally important. From here, we move forward in time a bit, and daddy and son are on the road. On occasion gangs are spotted roaming the roads for fuel, water and food. Since the world as we know it came to an end, out goes McDonalds and human burgers seem to be the most popular food group now. Daddy and son avoid the wild gangs from time to time with a little altercation here and there. Then they walk on some more roads and then it all comes to an end, on a beach.
I’m not entirely sure why quite a number of critics have been heaping on the praise for The Road. Mortensen’s performance is adequate, while Smit-McPhee could have done with a few more weeks in acting school. The Road is one of the more bland movies to come out in some time and it features more walking than the Lord of the Rings trilogy…combined!!! Not a great deal happens besides the walking. And while the barren, gloomy landscape looks well and no doubt this is probably the most accurate representation of the end of the world yet, it just doesn’t go anywhere…besides the beach! While it does have the constant father and son theme running throughout, there’s not enough background story, beside the occasional flash back to make it entirely convincing!
Much like the story and onscreen imagery, The Road is bleak and dreary and doesn’t have enough conviction to keep you either entertained or engrossed. On the other hand, if you suffer from insomnia, then this could well be the movie for you!
Viggo Mortensen plays, according to the IMDB, Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Boy. In other words, father and son. The movie starts off with Mortensen running a bath with a eerie yellow glow being outside the house. No idea what the yellow glow is! It could be anything from a bomb, a fire or a traffic light stuck on amber. Either way, to the audience, this signifies that something isn’t quite right. Viggo quickly fills up the bath and quickly informs his wife that he isn’t going for a swim with his rubber ducky. He obviously realises whats going on, and that water will be vitally important. From here, we move forward in time a bit, and daddy and son are on the road. On occasion gangs are spotted roaming the roads for fuel, water and food. Since the world as we know it came to an end, out goes McDonalds and human burgers seem to be the most popular food group now. Daddy and son avoid the wild gangs from time to time with a little altercation here and there. Then they walk on some more roads and then it all comes to an end, on a beach.
I’m not entirely sure why quite a number of critics have been heaping on the praise for The Road. Mortensen’s performance is adequate, while Smit-McPhee could have done with a few more weeks in acting school. The Road is one of the more bland movies to come out in some time and it features more walking than the Lord of the Rings trilogy…combined!!! Not a great deal happens besides the walking. And while the barren, gloomy landscape looks well and no doubt this is probably the most accurate representation of the end of the world yet, it just doesn’t go anywhere…besides the beach! While it does have the constant father and son theme running throughout, there’s not enough background story, beside the occasional flash back to make it entirely convincing!
Much like the story and onscreen imagery, The Road is bleak and dreary and doesn’t have enough conviction to keep you either entertained or engrossed. On the other hand, if you suffer from insomnia, then this could well be the movie for you!
