11/10
Many films have tried to captivate our imagination by showing us a vast new world, Avatar was a huge success just because of the 3D and how we actually felt like we were living in this world, The Matrix was also a huge success because of the future that it took place in was so undeniably cool. These imaginings were cool and were attractive but the world imagined here in The Road is simply the polar opposite of these two films described. It's a bold and unique vision that will not be everyone's cup of tea, frankly I won't be watching this one multiple times, but this movie was incredible in more than one ways.
Let's start with the acting, Mr. VIggo Mortenson is one of the most compelling actors around, he picks rolls that most people would sneer at but he pulls them off with a subtle class and a whole lot of realism, in this film he plays the perfect everyman. He plays a father who has a small family but has lost his wife through and extraordinary event that has brought the world to it's knees. American has become a baron wasteland; it's grey, cold, foggy and the people you meet on the road generally attack you and take all of you're possessions along with you're dignity. He is forced out of his home when his wife commits suicide and raiders are coming to attack the house, he takes his son with him on a journey to nowhere. Viggo plays this role so confidently that his subtle breathing and movements show how this man of dignity has to do anything to keep his boy okay; sometimes that makes him the bad guy. As a later character states in the movie, "We have lost our humanity," this movie isn't a light one. The depressing imagery is the least dreary thing of the film, every time the heroes go into a house it's terrifying, every discovery has a dispiriting catch, and the raiders that eat and attack the innocent make The Road one of the most terrifying films of the year.
The only hope surrounding this movie is the love and compassion between father and son, "Do we still have the fire in us?", as the son asks his dad about this spirit of fire within them that keeps them going; the only hope in a hopeless and lawless world, a world without humanity. As disturbing and hopeless this movie is; this center is what the whole story and picture revolves around and it makes it all that more powerful. This story is so powerful, watching Viggo interact with his boy (Kodi-Smit Mcphee) is a joy and warms the heart as these characters are immersed in such a horrific world.
Raw power is what defines this movie, the set is absolutely breath taking, we don't have to imagine a world here but the filmmaker has taken us there which is a huge break through and it's a simple reminder that film can really do without 3D. This is a world that we don't want to see, a baron wasteland, with canballistic clans that feed on the innocent, and no hope in sight of rescue or a better life, but as an old man says "Now that I've seen you're boy, I've seen God's angel, his gift to man, he is our hope," These words are so powerful, this movie is a triumph, it's bold, unique and compelling and tells a story most people would be scared to tell.
