The Road: DVD Review
The Road
Rating: R16
Released by Warner Home Video
In the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, a father (Viggo
Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are journeying across
America after the world ended in some unknown way.
(Though it appears to have been nuclear)
As they head south at the urging of the father's wife (Charlize
Theron) and search for food, shelter and fuel, the duo meet all
manner of problems - thieves, cannibals, and worst of all, their
own paranoia and fears.
Against a backdrop of a devastated planet, survivors who are
reduced to horrendous scavenging ways to get by and an ever
increasing cold front, the duo find themselves unable to escape the
inexorable physical and mental horrors which surround them.
To describe The Road as compellingly bleak may seem a little odd -
but when you have a film which finds the worst that men can do and
has a protagonist who would rather shoot his only son to avoid him
being eaten alive, it's clearly not a laugh riot.
But yet, this film is intellectually stimulating watching as the
events unfold - it's all wonderfully underplayed which adds to the
horror -and thanks to the great performances of Mortensen and
Smit-
Phee, this is riveting and terrifyingly good.
Extras: Behind the scenes featurettes and a
gallery.
Rating: 8/10
