A Review of The Road

I remember reading somewhere that the numbers of apocalyptic literature produced always increases when the world finds itself in some sort of crisis. It certainly seems this way post 9-11 and the global economic recession, for apocalyptic and disaster movies are a dime a dozen of late. The Road is yet another in a fairly long list but it happens one of the very best that I have ever seen.

It certainly is not easy to watch. The post-apocalyptic world of The Road is one filled with darkness and grey, despair and bleak lifelessness. Yet, amidst this hell on earth we see a father’s love for his son, and his son’s love for goodness which guides them both through the mess like a beacon in the dark.

The movie is based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pullitzer prize-winning tale of a father and son struggling to survive in a harsh world of destruction and danger, where violence looms around every corner and the ‘good people’ seem few and far between. McCarthy’s book is a tale of “love among the ruins” that reminds one to keep the flames of goodness and hope flickering even when life is at its very worst.

Set against the backdrop of an unknown apocalypse, we follow "Man" (Viggo Mortensen in his career-best) and "Boy" (11-year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee), unnamed because the world they live in has no time for luxuries such as names. The Road follows them on a dangerous journey in which nature is dead and dying, ash constantly permeates the air, and violent cannibal gangs scavenge among the weakest for their food.

You cannot watch this movie and not feel unsettled, or feel along with the Man his sheer desperation to keep his beloved son safe and alive. The Man constantly has flashbacks to better times when his wife (Charlize Theron seen only in flashbacks), shared many happy experiences before civilization fell. These scenes portray a lament for a world that will never be the same again.

So where is God in all this? Well, one character observes that if he does exist "he would have turned his back on humanity long ago." And yet despite the apparent godlessness of this tragic world, God is still somehow there, if only in bits and pieces. The Man makes a declaration that: “The child is my warrant. And if he is not the word of God, then God never spoke." These poignant words echo through the film as The Boy repeatedly challenges The Man to be compassionate to those weaker than them, to be forgiving when they are wronged, and to be thankful when rare blessings emerge.

Ultimately, the Boy is a reminder to his father that there is no point in surviving if you lose your humanity in the process. This is how they manage to carry a flame of hope through even the bleakest of landscapes. As McCarthy said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, "It is more important to be good than it is to be smart."

The Man and the Boy constantly use the expression “to carry the fire” as a reminder to keep the spark of human goodness alive. The fire represents the best of people, a kind of self-giving love in a world which has lost all sense of community. The boy has it the most, even though he was born after the apocalypse and never knew a world of charity.

“The Road is a parable of how a child is born into this world where there is no kindness. And yet, he manages to find this and nurture it and even teach [his father]," explains the director John Hillcoat, "Cormac McCarthy [the author] told me that if there's no spiritual dimension, then life is a vacuum and meaningless. He thinks that active struggle with faith is the key. This story is like the book of Job, it's just challenge after challenge after challenge."

This is a seriously good movie but also deeply disturbing. Be warned that this is not an easy movie to watch, although much of the violence is not seen but ‘heard’ and ‘felt” (it is atmospheric). On top of the violence, it also contains some strong language and a few brief scenes of male nudity.