In a Moment the World Changed Forever

It’s time to look at a haunting portrayal of a post-apocalyptic world in John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, The Road.

The film is about a father and son heading south for the coast in a destroyed America. They are looking for good people and trying to avoid cannibal survivors. They seek supplies in the debris of houses and stores and also have a revolver with two shells. This gun is for either self-protection or the ultimate decision of committing suicide.

I do have to say this up front that the movie is a hard film to watch, because it deals with some very heavy subject matter such as murder, Cannibalism, suicide and other terrible things. So, going into this film you have to be prepared to experience some awful things.

First thing first let’s look at the characters, because in order for us to care about them the performances have to be believable and they are. We have Viggo Mortensen playing Man and Kodi Smith-McPhee playing Boy and they both give top notch performances. You believe everything about their characters and you are actually frightened for them.

Man and Boy’s relationship is done very well and really shows us the complexity of being a parent in such an unforgiving world.

Charlize Theron is also in the film and plays women, she also delivers a great performance; I just hated her character. I guess it was better for me not to like her because it just made Mortensen’s character stronger.

Robert Duvall makes a cameo as Old Man and has a wonderful scene with Mortensen, a scene I won’t get into detail about because it needs to be watched to truly appreciate it.

Besides great performances we have a great story. The story is heartbreaking, dark and unforgiving. It will take all of your endurance to make it through until the end and you will be rewarded for doing so.

The great thing about the story is that it’s a personal experience in a post-apocalyptic world, something that has been really left out from this type of movie in the past.

The direction of the film is also done well and we have John Hillcoat to thank for that. Hillcoat, thanks to the films strong performances, is able to carry this movie all the way to the end effectively.

Now that I’m done talking about the film’s positive points lets move into some negative territory.

One thing that I do believe will be viewed as a negative point in some people’s eyes is the films endless agony. I do have to say that it is something that can get tiresome after awhile, but for me made it more effective at the films end.

Everything else in the movie I thought was fine. Yeah there are some CGI shots that weren’t my favorite and the film can move slowly at times but for me it’s simply one of the best movies I’ve seen in awhile.

A-