The Road

[DraconianOne]

A film of Cormac ("No Country For Old Men") McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel, adapted and directed by John Hillcoat whose last film was "The Proposition". Official Site.  Starring Viggo Mortenson, Guy Pearce, Robert Duvall and Charlize Theron.

Don't know the book at all but if I had to choose one post-apocalyptic movie this year on the strength of trailers alone then it would be this over both Book of Eli and 2012.

[Hawkbit]

The book is an extremely fast read due to the writing style.  It's a very personalized take on the situation and you don't get a lot of info about what actually happened. 

I took away a sense of utter hopelessness from the book; others I've talked to just the opposite.  I enjoyed it thoroughly though.  Parts of it crushed me because of how plausible the situation might be if our timeline went that way.

It made me think about my father and my daughter; how I'd deal with her in that situation and how my father raised me. 

Worth reading before the movie. 

[Hawkbit]

Just watched the trailer.  They're taking some liberties, for sure. 

His wife (Theron) is in the book only in a few pages as flashbacks.  Looks like they needed to give some screentime to superstars.  Also, there's virtually no explanation of what happened in the book.  Simply a wasteland after an event, that's all. 

Also, I can't imagine they're going to show some of the more gruesome imagery from the book. 

[lamaros]

Some of the shots in the trailer are quite nice. And I liked 'The Proposition'. But otherwise dubious. Didn't really like the book a whole heap, and I don't see how a bit of hollywood would make it any better.

[Rishathra]

Just watched the trailer.  They're taking some liberties, for sure. 

His wife (Theron) is in the book only in a few pages as flashbacks.  Looks like they needed to give some screentime to superstars.  Also, there's virtually no explanation of what happened in the book.  Simply a wasteland after an event, that's all.

It looks to me more like creative editing with the trailer to give the impression she's a big part of the film.  There's nothing she's doing in that trailer that she didn't do in the book.

As far as the explaining of what happened, to me that would be an improvement, frankly.  Even when background framework is unimportant to the story, I still like to have at least a semblance of one.  Really, that's my biggest gripe with the book.  The catastophic event and the resulting wasteland made no sense.  If the world was as wrecked as the descriptions of the environment suggested, then there would be no people alive at all.

All that being said, I did enjoy the book and am looking forward to how it will play out on screen.

[Tarami]

I have now watched this and am just going to share some thoughts.

First of all, the Woman (Charlize Theron) does not have a large part. It just looks that way in the trailer. With the exception for Viggo Mortensen and the kid, no actor really gets more than 10 minutes of screentime.

Secondly, I haven't read the book, but the complaint that nothing makes sense is absolutely valid for the movie aswell. This combined with the pretty weak plot is probably the film's worst stumbling block, because like discussed in the "The Lovely Bones" thread, movies need much tighter narrative, with more substantial advancements, than a book does. I felt neither the characters nor I had learned something when the film came to an end and that most, if not all of it, was completely up to interpretation. Again, this is usually fine with a book because you have more time to digest and reflect on things but here you're fed a hefty chunk of (depressive, gloomy) fluff that doesn't really progress as much as it just loiters. At the end, nothing has happened that changed the conditions under which it ends. Perhaps there's redemption for the man and the boy, but not one earned over the course of the movie.

A friend once said that a movie can satisfy in two ways - it can tell and it can paint. Either it tells a story that captivates till the end, or it paints a picture that you can't forget. The Road firmly wants in the latter category, and while rather hauntingly shot and scored (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, the latter who also wrote the fantastic score for Assassination of Jesse James), too much inconsistency in the background plot gravels its pretentions. It paints a little too monochromatically and a little too simple-mindedly to really sell the setting as it is - even beyond the apocalypse, there has to be realistic hope, not just hope in the form of blue-eyed innocence and flimsy promises. After all, mud and caves and rags is from where civilization once rose.

[Oban]

The boy really needed to shut the fuck up.  At times I actually said "shut up" out loud while watching this movie.

Completely unbelievable.

Why they left the bunker was beyond me as well.

Just horribly depressing.

[Tarami]

Why they left the bunker was beyond me as well.

When it comes to this movie, most "whys" can be answered with "because it makes for a more pretentious script." It tries far, far, far too hard to be oppressively dark and gritty, at a severe cost of everything else.

In the end I didn't even think is was that depressing, because you kind of go numb after a while. I think it has to do with the fact that it never raises the question -if or when- things are going to go to hell for real, since everything has gone to hell to its fullest extent already. Waterworld, the Costner movie, conveys this much more effectively, since it's not apparent to the average character that mankind is doomed (most just doodle on in a state of ignorant bliss), but it becomes apparent to the viewer through the mixed perspective that the viewer gets. In The Road, EVERYONE knows mankind is doomed. It gives no opportunity for any "you know we're fucked"-speeches or any real contrast.