grilices It took me almost ten years to watch "The Road", but today was finally the day that I watched this movie. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. I only knew that it was in an post-apocalyptic future. So, since I actually really like Viggo Mortensen, I decided to open my heart to this movie. And I must say it: it is amazing. Most of the movies (and TV series) that show post-apocalyptic scenarios have zombies... So, that's our main idea when we think about the "end of the world". But this movie only shows what happened to nature and to people - obviously without zombies. Everyone in this movie is trying to survive at his own way. Some became bad people, but others are still humans. In the end, even after realizing that this apocalyptic scenario may never happen, I cried. Because the characters and their relations are so real...

cmyles-07888 The Road is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic drama, based off The Road, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy. The film was directed by John Hillcoat. The man (played by Viggo Mortensen) and the boy (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee) struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world as they travel on the road to the southern coast, in hopes of warmth and refugee. The mother of the boy, (played by Charlize Theron), deserted the two years after the apocalypse. Those who read the novel know that cannibalism is a huge element within the storyline of The Road, which I think wasn't emphasized enough. The element of cannibalism was significantly downplayed within the film. The only time cannibalism is truly shown in the film is when the boy and the man enter the basement of a house, and find several nude and starving people who were locked up. It is assumed that these people were being held captive as a food source for their captors. Another aspect that played a huge role within the text but wasn't really incorporated in the text was the setting. After reading The Road and before watching the film, I anticipated the setting of the entire film to be dark, grey, bleak, and full of ash. These aspects play a large role in why the journey south was so treacherous. The film did a poor job of showing a post-apocalyptic world in my opinion. The setting of the movie gave me the impression that the weather was constantly cloudy, and that the establishments such as various buildings, stores, and houses were being poorly maintained. There were no places shown within the film that gave off the feeling of being abandoned or burned down, just ignored. The only aspect of this movie that I really enjoyed was the input of voice overs and narration of some scenes. The use of voice overs helped incorporate the "vibe" given off when reading through the pages of McCarthy's writing. Overall, the film did a poor job of trying to bring Cormac McCarthy's writing to life. There were quintessential aspects of the book that made it so enjoyable were left out. The man and son were unrealistically lucky within the film, to the point where the film became stale.(How can a cold, starving man on the brink of death go diving into a freezing sea and walk out like it was nothing?) The actors' performances were subpar at best. And to top the movie off, the only African American within the film robbed the boy and the man, and then was robbed himself. If I had to rate this movie from 1 through 10, 1 being absolutely a piece of garbage and 10 being the best film I've ever seen, I would give this movie 4. The effort was there, but upon further review, not really.

The Movie Diorama I literally did not smile once, my soul is drained and any happiness that resided in me has now been utterly decimated. Good lord this was bleak. In a post-apocalyptic future, mankind is on the brink of extinction where only a few fight for survival. A father and son are pushed to their limits but the love between them keeps the battle for survival strong. This is a story where hope is completely diminished. There is no rainbow at the end of the road, just misery and death. It explores themes of mortality and memories. Succumbing to the fear of death where you no longer wish to be alive. But the nostalgic memories of past happiness pushes the mind further and adds that little sense of hope that was once gone. Trust no one, do whatever it takes to survive. Heck, I've never wanted a tinned can of Del Monte peaches so much in all my life. It's a harsh environment, where scavenging for food is the only means of staying alive. Consistent earthquakes, cannibalism, forest fires...it's a torturous world. But what keeps the narrative flowing, is the tight relationship between father and son. Raising a child where there is no hope is a difficult task, particularly where solitude and loneliness plays a key role in this future. But the chemistry between Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee is sonphenomenally well portrayed that I was undertaking this perilous journey with them. A transformative performance for both of them. Director John Hillcoat embeds scenes that includes the father's past love (played beautifully by Charlize Theron) which reminds us that there is still humanity within him. It's absolutely resonating. The Road's weakness is its script which unfortunately was not particularly compelling for me. The visual narration conveyed the themes, so scenes filled with dialogue just felt uninteresting. At times the story does feel monotonous, going from one bad scenario to the other. However this is the brutal depiction of a post-apocalyptic future where there is no hope. An extremely depressing yet powerful cinematic piece.

willrock-88030 About halfway through the movie I'm hoping the kid dies. He's a whiny, stupid and weak character. You don't grow up in that environment and get to be a weak sauce loser like that kid. And there is alllll that ash everywhere and they don't bother to try to wear masks? WTF nope. Nope nope.