Step 1: Do a nice job adapting a novel for the big screen. Carved almost verbatim from Cormac McCarthy’s compelling novel, The Road is a depressing, gut-wrenching journey that is strangely uplifting at its core.
Step 2: Find hope in the most dire of situations. The Road is one of those post-apocalyptic stories in which there are no Terminators, Mad Maxes or zombies, no good and evil forces divvying up the surviving population, no giant ark to save humanity. The Road is more about the reality of the situation. It’s about what survivors of some global catastrophe might do to stave off starvation and protect themselves from the elements. Some of those people might resort to horrible things to survive – and some might try to maintain life as they used to know it. In the later scenario, we meet a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who are just trying to get to a place where they can feel safe. Not the most cheerful of movies to watch, it is still affecting in a positive way – that maybe if it all goes to hell, some semblance of humanity will survive.
Step 3: Admire what looks to be very hard-to-do performances. From my interview with Mr. Mortensen, it is clear he and Smit-McPhee suffered for their art, playing out their scenes in the wet, cold outdoors. Mortensen even jumps naked into the freezing cold ocean at one point. Maybe they were taking the Method acting too far, but it sure does give their father-son relationship authenticity, which is the only way to get through this film. You’re invested from the beginning because these two have such a bond; you really want it to work out for them. Wouldn’t be surprised if Mortensen sees another Oscar nomination. Charlize Theron also makes a memorable cameo as the mother, who chooses another path for herself. She’s only onscreen for a brief time, told in flashbacks (much like the character was in the book), but she leaves an indelible impression. Also good in cameos are Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce – if you can spot them.
Step 4: Speaking of authenticity, make this sucker look REAL. Director John Hillcoat (The Proposition) paints a very grim picture indeed, but does so with real devastation, rather than manufactured. Shot mostly in Pennsylvania, some in Oregon and Washington State and a little in New Orleans, Hillcoat captures both natural and man-made destruction. Let’s just say, you won’t see part of the Statue of Liberty sticking up in the sand. And it really does follow the book very closely, which I can see might be a problem if you’ve read it. Again, I’d have to refer to Mortensen’s own words to explain: “If you see it, you are there but describing it, you’d think, ‘I don’t want to see that!’ Which is why a lot of people said it couldn’t be done. You can’t make an engaging, entertaining, beautiful, poetic movie from this book. It can’t be done. They were wrong. And if you see it, I find people will tell others they should see it.” He hits the nail on the head.
Level of difficulty in watching The Road: As a movie-going experience, it’s tough – but an experience you should have nonetheless.
