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Movies / Opening / The Road
The Road

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The Road (2009)

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Reviews Counted:32

Fresh:24

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6.9/10

Australian Rating: TBC

Genre: Dramas

Australian Theatrical Release:
Nov 30, 1999 Wide

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: After the Oscar-winning success of the adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, another of the author's works arrives on screen. Viggo Mortensen stars in THE ROAD, a thriller... After the Oscar-winning success of the adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, another of the author's works arrives on screen. Viggo Mortensen stars in THE ROAD, a thriller that is set in a bare, post-apocalyptic America, where a father and son struggle to survive. Director John Hillcoat previously teamed with star Guy Pearce on the critically acclaimed Western THE PROPOSITION. [More]

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi McPhee, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi McPhee, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Robert Duvall

Director: John Hillcoat

Director: John Hillcoat
Screenwriter: Joe Penhall
Producer: Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, Paula Mae Schwartz
Composer: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
Studio: Weinstein Company

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Reviews for The Road

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

One of the most important and moving films to come along in a long time.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies AU | comment 1 Comment
11/19/09
James O'Connor
James O'Connor
IGN Movies AU
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Let's be honest: go to see this apocalyptic drama, you're not going for a good time. This desperate and determined story of survival isn't the super effected tilt-a-whirl of, say, the hugely popular disaster epic, 2012.

Full Review Source: The Movie Minute | comment Comment
11/23/09
Joanna Langfield
Joanna Langfield
The Movie Minute

A heartbreaking and powerful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
11/23/09
Mark Salisbury
Mark Salisbury
Premiere Magazine

The movie The Road is nowhere close to its literary sire, but it's probably the best one could hope for from a movie version.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
11/23/09
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Emotionally affecting enough to please fans and the uninitiated alike, even if it falls short of its source material's profound beauty.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/23/09
Brett Buckalew
Brett Buckalew
Hollywood.com

Adapting a masterpiece such as The Road is a thankless task, but the film doesn't work on its own merits.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
11/23/09
Jake Coyle
Jake Coyle
Associated Press

"The Road" is like the proverbial tree that falls in the forest when no human or animal is around. Whether or not it makes a sound is a moot point.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment 5 Comments
11/21/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

A cinematic adaptation at once faithful and superior to its source material.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
11/20/09
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

Hillcoat has a way of undermining the earthy performances of his cast with overly refined images and obtrusive music.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
11/20/09
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

Hillcoat took it as far as he dared and created a beautiful suffering; a film that somehow manages to be both unwatchable and unmissable at the same time.

Full Review Source: Clothes on Film | comment Comment
11/19/09
Chris Laverty
Chris Laverty
Clothes on Film

This relentlessly grim drama, which is much tougher and more challenging as screen text than No Country for Old Men, deserves to be seen for the Oscar-caliber performance of Viggo Mortensen, who carries the whole film on his solid shoulders.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment 2 Comments
11/16/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Evocative as it is, The Road comes up short, not because it’s bleak but because it’s monotonous, and because McCarthy’s vision is finally as inflexible as his patriarchal hero’s.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment 1 Comment
11/16/09
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine

Despite the carps, a receptiveness to this material will pay off in tension and suspense, pushing you off The Road in a state of emotional exhaustion.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/13/09
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

And unlike the better-than-the-book No Country for Old Men, it's only as good as the book. I guess I'm saying there's enough blame to go around.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment 10 Comments
11/12/09
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Overall, THE ROAD is a horror movie in the truest sense -- it is about the horror of humanity, the horror of our legacy, the horror of what we might become.

Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | comment Comment
11/09/09
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
LYTRules.com

When a movie is bleak and depressing, it had better be damned good. The Road is damned bad.

Full Review Source: tonymacklin.net | comment 18 Comments
11/05/09
Tony Macklin
Tony Macklin
tonymacklin.net

For all of its bleak content, the final equation proves surprisingly optimistic.

Full Review Source: Mania.com | comment 2 Comments
10/30/09
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Mania.com

You won't find anything entertaining in The Road but maybe you'll find something else.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
10/19/09
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

pure, stripped-down bleakness, both in the desaturated drabness of its appearance and in the last-days essentialism of its themes.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
10/18/09
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

The Road is a film that, to quote Mark Twain, knows the words but not the music. It evokes the images and the characters of Cormac McCarthy's novel, but lacks a core of emotional feeling.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 50 Comments
10/15/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Road

October 02, 2009: New: Brand New Trailer and Poster Opens in new window
More...

September 22, 2009: Viggo Mortensen Dismisses Retirement Rumors, Talks The Road Opens in new window
With the long-delayed "The Road" finally reaching theaters in a few weeks, Viggo Mortensen might have one of the year's best movies on his hands -- and despite rumors of his... More...

September 08, 2009: Up in the Air, The Road Impress at Telluride Opens in new window
"Up in the Air" generated applause, "The Road" brought people to tears, and "Paranormal Activity" scared them half to death. This year's Telluride Film Festival is on the books,... More...

May 25, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

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