The Road

The Road directed by John Hillcoat, adapted from Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer prize winning novel is about a father and son combo traversing the United States of America in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. I did read the novel sometime a couple years ago and I try really hard not to directly compare the two because they aren't the same medium. Similar to comparing paintings or photographs. One isn't necessarily better than the other, they're just different and have different strengths and weaknesses.

This film is a good example of adaptation done well. The overall tone remained, if not bleaker than how the book portrays the road. Feelings of suspense, urgency and shocking imagery popped out where the rich character narration of the book fell into the shadows.

They did make it more obvious that some sort of pollution apocalypse has plagued the earth. It wasn't clear exactly what was going on but there were earthquakes and landscape blowing up for no reason.

Not a lot happened and the pacing was slow, but it lends to the narrative the director is telling. If I were pushing a shopping cart down the road it would be slow, and I would be scared. The Man, was often faced with moral dilemmas. The Boy was there to help him maintain his humanity by helping people. The Man would oblige if only to save The Boy's innocence that he felt guilty for stealing.

All around them the world is falling down, from the trees to the sanity in people's brains. This film shows that in amidst the chaos of the end that a bond between father and son can be the strongest thing in the entire world.

8/10