The Road | Movies

Review

Visceral and haunting

by Yury Glikin

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by American author, Cormac McCarthy, "The Road" tells a story of a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son's (Kodi Smit-McPhee) journey to traverse the unforgiving US terrain, in an attempt to make it to the coast.

It's been a decade since an unnamed disaster decimated the planet, and their travels are made perilous from the horrific weather, lack of food and threats of cannibalism from the few survivors that are left.

All the father has left is an innate, desperate desire to protect his son, driven by his visions of promises made to his wife (Charlize Theron in a set of powerful flashbacks). The film's focus is the relationship between the father and son, "each the other's world entire", as McCarthy refers to it in his novel.

Interestingly, neither theirs nor anyone else's names are ever mentioned in the film (the two leads are known simply as Man and Boy), adding to the sense of macabre darkness that permeates the story. All they have is the road they are travelling on, the sense of purpose and need to survive that drives them, and each other.

Casting for "The Road" had to be spot on, since so much of the film is focused on the man and his son and is shot in close quarters. Smit-McPhee, who played a not dissimilar role in "Romulus, My Father" with Eric Bana, is very good as the boy, showing genuine pathos in his interaction with his father.

There's a great cameo from an almost unrecognisable Robert Duvall, but the film belongs to Viggo Mortensen. His performance as the man is visceral and haunting. His ability to communicate a wide range of emotion though his eyes alone is quite extraordinary.

He embodies the character entirely and reportedly went to extraordinary lengths to prepare for it, such as sleeping in his character's wet and dirty clothes. He is truly one of the most underrated actors of his generation and if for nothing else, it's worth seeing "The Road" to appreciate his work.