One of the most important and moving films to come along in a long time.
The Road (2009)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for The Road
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.
A heartbreaking and powerful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
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.
Emotionally affecting enough to please fans and the uninitiated alike, even if it falls short of its source material's profound beauty.
Adapting a masterpiece such as The Road is a thankless task, but the film doesn't work on its own merits.
"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.
A cinematic adaptation at once faithful and superior to its source material.
Hillcoat has a way of undermining the earthy performances of his cast with overly refined images and obtrusive music.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When a movie is bleak and depressing, it had better be damned good. The Road is damned bad.
For all of its bleak content, the final equation proves surprisingly optimistic.
You won't find anything entertaining in The Road but maybe you'll find something else.
pure, stripped-down bleakness, both in the desaturated drabness of its appearance and in the last-days essentialism of its themes.
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.
Latest News for The Road
October 02, 2009:
New: Brand New Trailer and Poster ![]()
More...
September 22, 2009:
Viggo Mortensen Dismisses Retirement Rumors, Talks The Road ![]()
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 ![]()
"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 ![]()
More...
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