Post 9/11 American literature and cinema turns more towards apocalyptic dooms day and many of them generate too mediocre pulp fiction but Cormac McCarthy is no ordinary writer. I have read his Pulitzer Prize winning ‘The Road’ almost two years ago when his first novel’s screen adaptation ‘No Country for Old Men’ had already garnered strong critical favor for winning Oscar. ‘The Road’ is emotionally shattering tale of father and son struggling to survive in grim, dark and shocking future.It’s horribly hopeless future where you don’t know time, day or date, no survival of animal, no growth of plants, trees are falling and people are hiding as refugees in chaotic suburban town where cannibalistic gangs with weapons butchering them and searching food is biggest survival question. A struggling father and son duo is roaming alone on the road with a cart, a map, a gun with two bullets and a backpack of food. Amid all this nightmarish chaos father is trying hard to convince his son’s conscience that “we’re still good guys”. And it is this emotional bonding between two which keeps the novel/ film a fine treat of hopeful future.
Excluding certain emotional subplots and undertones of the novel, Director John Hillcoat has finely documented the images of McCarthy’s prose and encapsulated both the chaos and emotions so wonderfully. I’m so eager to watch this cinematic adaptation since long and another reason for it is Viggo Mortensen in a lead. Viggo always remain creditable cast in unusual and delivered fine underplay in many films and again this is one more addition into it. The film also has guest appearance kind of presence of Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron and Guy Pierce but as I said its father-son story and along with Viggo’s restrained act, Kodi Smit-McPhee as the boy is something we rarely see in routine Hollywood. The father-son theme resembles more with Sam Mendes’ ‘Road to Perdition’.
Absolutely worthy to give your one hour twenty minutes.
Ratings- 8/10
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