After screening last night in Venice, a few reviews of John Hillcoat’s adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel, The Road. The first is good — Geoffrey McNab writing for the Independent:
In the event, John Hillcoat has made a film of power and sensitivity that works remarkably well on the big screen. It plays like a Dystopian version of Huck Finn. “Tattered gods slouching in their rags across the waste,” was how McCarthy described the father and son on their grim odyssey south across America toward the coast.
The film captures well the strange mix of heroism and seeming futility that characterises the journey. What is most impressive is the restraint the filmmakers bring to their material. The look of the film is muted and grey other than in the flashbacks to the pre-apocalyptic moments that the man (Viggo Mortensen) enjoyed with his wife (Charlize Theron) before the world ground to a halt.
The music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is likewise understated. We don’t hear Cave wailing out murder ballads. Instead, the score is used in ominous but understated fashion to accentuate the feeling of loss and foreboding that runs throughout the film.
Next, Variety’s Todd McCarthy is having none of it. He finds it a disappointment:
This “Road” leads nowhere. If you’re going to adapt a book like Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 bestseller, you’re pretty much obliged to make a terrific film or it’s not worth doing — first because expectations are high, and second, because the picture needs to make it worth people’s while to sit through something so grim. Except for the physical aspects of this bleak odyssey by a father and son through a post-apocalyptic landscape, this long-delayed production falls dispiritingly short on every front. Showing clear signs of being test-screened and futzed with to death, the Dimension release may receive a measure of respect in some quarters but is very, very far from the film it should have been, spelling moderate to tepid B.O. prospects after big fest preems.
Finally, Lee Marshall for the Evening Standard comes down somewhere in the middle:
McCarthy’s novel worked partly because of what it left to the imagination. The film leaves nothing to the imagination — not even a cellarful of desperate human cattle who are being kept alive for slaughter. So although Joe Penhall’s script is remarkably faithful to the original, it doesn’t feel quite right. The film is bleak and visionary, but it leaves a faintly nasty taste in the mouth, as if it wanted to rope in the horror fans under its arthouse cloak
38 Responses for "The Road Reception Mixed"
Screen Daily’s Fionnualalalaula Halligan liked it
http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/venice/the-road/5005228.article
and so did Guardian’s Xan Brooks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/sep/03/the-road-adaptation-cormac-mccarthy
Damn. Two negative reviews already.
I’ve been looking out for this film forever. The book is fantastic and very suspenseful.
” The film leaves nothing to the imagination — not even a cellarful of desperate human cattle who are being kept alive for slaughter”
Now that bothers me because I got chills reading that scene in the book.
Here’s hoping Viggo Mortensen is still great to get a nod.
I’m a sad panda. Oh well, the book is still brill.
That’s good to know Craig. Thanks.
I read the book, bleakly loved its bleakness and spareness, but I never fancied watching a movie version.
If I was at a screen test I’d have advised them to add some Na’avi to the situation.
OK, Xan Brooks likes it. I have hope.
this doesn’t look good.. check out http://www.emanuellevy.com,, praise for Viggo’s performance.
“I was at a screen test I’d have advised them to add some Na’avi to the situation.”
haha, Joolz… or some Nigerian druglords.
I love how we all take care to spell “Na’avi” correctly, with the apostrophe in the right place, as if it matters, lest we offend anyone with the incorrect spelling, as if they exist.
And as I type it, I read it in my mind with a careful stress on that apostrophe break, gently, Na’ *a baby’s heartbeat* ‘avi, with the same care I take saying the name of someone whose title originates from a culture, language or pronunciation I am not familiar with, because I am a cosmopolitan gentleman.
I mean, what the fuck.
MIXED movies have been nominated for so many years.
I don’t think we’ll find a problem having “The Road” in one of ten nominees next January.
http://incontention.com/?p=12972#comments
and no words for Kodi Smit-McPhee’s performance???
ORDINARY COW:
Films that are already pure bait can afford meh reviews like this. The Road needed raves, it needed Milk/Slumdog/Frost like reviews, and it’s not getting them. Maybe Lovely Bones could survive like that because it’s already a frontrunner, but when you’re not exactly high on the radar, you need t pull off some buzz… like Basterds did. The Road wont make it in with stuff like this.
This year’s Blindness?
It really is bleak though, isn’t it. I mean, the novel is like the blasted heath of King Lear with cannibals around every wasted tree and death-shrouded thing waiting to rape the boy and then eat him.
That’s the novel, on it goes, the bleakness of Samuel Beckett’s landscape of barely sentient beings crawling through mud, and men like walking stumps of bleeding pain.
Despite the flicker of distant candlelight at the end, its a tough sell.
Its basically a movie contemplating and showing the end of days, the end of time, the end of us all. Oscar glory for that, I don’t know. It is as dark as an unlit underground cave a mile under the earth.
I don’t know about you, but I can just imagine the academy members watching twenty minutes, then switching off, pouring themselves another flute of champagne and cheering at Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz hot-stepping in basque and suspenders, or whatever else is on the menu.
It’ll be a tough one, either way
That kid is weird looking
What’s interesting is No Country For Old Men, which I consider McCarthy’s worst written book, was elevated by having a film made.
The Road sounds like it may go the route of All The Pretty Horses. However, I will add that a failed effort of a brilliant book is sometimes more interesting than a successful take on a mediocre one.
Joolz – I love everything you’ve said on this thread so far and agree about the tough sell. I couldn’t put the book down, but it is maybe the bleakest thing I’ve read. However, if enough people think it was made well and acted well, it could pull through.
The Exorcist got many a nod, and that book, movie and subject matter is about as horrifying as you get. So I guess time will tell on this one.
Horrible photo of Viggo btw. Yikes.
I agree Yugsa about the need for raves – and I think this applies to Mortensen too. Despite the emanuallevy praise, this isn’t starting out sounding like a sure Best Actor nomination. I was hoping for stuff like “the movie misses the mark but Mortensen is fantastic” but I’m not really seeing enough of that. But, then again, the pickings do seem a little slim for best actors this year – and that just shocks the hell out of me. We always have lots of best actor contenders out there!
I just got back to the hotel after having seen the film, and I can’t help but feel that the negative reviews are a little unwarranted, but not entirely unexpected. It’s not the most audience-friendly story out there as far as cinema audiences go. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel. Things go from bad to worse, and the tiny moments of relief are very quickly turned bad by the crushing reality of the situation. That, and I think people are being a little unfair in terms of their expectations on how the film would works as an adaptation. The novel has so much prose and no chapter breaks. The most enthralling aspect of the book is the imagery McCarthy evokes in his descriptions. That, in my opinion, was one of the two most powerful aspects of the book. To be honest, no film adaptation was going to be able to live up to McCarthy’s narration. But In my opinion, the cinematographers, art directors, costume designers, set designers, and visual team as a whole did a knockout job of attempting to recreate a visual representation of McCarthy’s world. There’s no denying the visual quality of the film.
The second thing that made the novel so incredible was the emotional connection the reader developed to the man and the son. Again, with so little dialogue present in the novel and so much inner thoughts going on, there is a nearly insurmountable challenge for the writers and actors to attempt to establish that same emotional connection. Luckily, Viggo Mortensen delivers a performance that really solidifies his position in my mind as quite possibly the most underrated and incredibly talented actors working today. His performance in the film is incredibly moving and recreated the sense of determination yet futility that is present in the character as one read’s the book. He understands that his mission o get to the coast is a fool’s errand, yet he continues on, determined to get there nonetheless. Mortensen’s haunted expressions and soft, raspy whisper only add to this.
When I reached the emotional climax of the book (which I will not spoil here but those who have read the book know exactly which part I am referring to), I had to put down the book and sob. In fact, I sobbed uncontrollably. I have never cried so hard in my entire life. All over a book. When this same scene happens in the film, I thought I had prepared myself and would be able to contain my emotions even a little bit. No such luck. Same exact emotional response I had when reading the book. For me, the power of that scene is worth forgiving any flaws the film may have in terms of it’s transition form page to screen. Yes, I missed the prose by McCarthy. Yes, the film didn’t quite have the poetic and elegant feel that the book did. But in a way, I knew it was going to be a nearly impossible task to adapt such a work to the screen. Yet, for me, everything that was done well was done so well that all flaws were forgiven. The emotional power of the film isn’t sentimentalism or manipulative filmmaking. It’s all due to Mortensen’s performance and the overall atmosphere created.
Don’ be so quick to count this one out, these are early reviews and the film has a little over a month to sit in the mind’s of critics. A couple of mixed or negative reviews aren’t going to doom this from being a great film. Give it a shot and don’t fret.
Judging from the trailer, this doesn’t look like any Oscar movie that I’ve ever seen.
However, Bastoche stated that it looks like Blindness. I actually liked Blindness, so maybe I’d like the Road!
Now, Kevin, that was the sort of review I was hoping to see – especially about Mortensen!
@Meredith LOL about the Viggo photo. At first look I thought “who’s that women with Kodi Smith McPhee”.
I bet Mortenson grabs a nod, weak year so far for Male lead.
Firstly #16 so insightful of you to say that about a child. He is a beautiful child have a look at his performance in Romulus My Father with Eric Bana there is nothing weird about this kid.
Secondly I hired out Blindness last weekend and was so disappointed in it terrible movie but that is just me.
Thirdly I love Viggo and have high hopes for his movies – I haven’t read the book but will definitely see the movie – what do critics know anyway?
You guys serious? Two bad reviews and you’re giving up on it? LOL. You pretentious assholes.
“OK, Xan Brooks likes it. I have hope.”
Is Xan Brooks that douche who “felt impelled to hug Lars von Trier” when he met him after seeing Antichrist? lolz.
No hope.
Public Enemies was the first hyped-up loser of the year, this will likely be the second – third’s gonna be either The Lovely Bones or Invictus.
LoLz @ Aleksis ur g8
Kevin: I agree with what you say. And it sounds like I had the same reaction to the book as you. I should never have elected to read the last third of it in a public place. I was sobbing all over the cafe! So, I am hoping the film is really good (and I’m a Viggo fan through and through).
And, of course you’re right to point out that these are early reviews. Films can feel differently as time goes on. I remember when The Pianist was shown at (and won in) Cannes in 2002, a lot or critics complained, saying the film was old-fashioned, dull, boring, nothing special etc. But by the time the Oscars rolled round, the film looked and felt like a classic – and the Oscars did right by it (although they might have gone the whole hog and given it Best Picture as well). More recently, when Lust, Caution won at Venice in 2007, there were criticisms that it wasn’t really very good. But again, when it came out a few months later – well, I for one thought it was excellent.
So, yes, let’s see how reaction to The Road develops over the next few months. In any case, I’m still looking forward to it big-time.
I read the book and it was pretty good. Confusing a little, but good.
Kevin,
kuddos for your review!
I still think THE ROAD will be in many top ten lists at the end of the year.
Revolutionary Road 2010. To bleak for some to handle, and variety has been getting wrong a lot lately. Ive still got hope, o yes I do.
I’ll add Inglourious Basterds to your list, Edward. Received a mixed response at Cannes and now it’s sitting quite pretty. 89% fresh at rottentomatoes, heading toward 100+ mil at the box office, and possible Oscar nominations in the cards.
Kevin, good review. That’s what this film deserves!
“The Road” is still top ten.
Tony Rock: Yes, good spot – the critical reevaluation is happening under our noses right now – I couldn’t see what was staring me in the face!
You know, I just watched Letters from a Dead Man and Ugly Swans, directed by Konstantin Lopushansky, from 1986 and 2006 respectively, and they are really well-done post-apocalyptic films. They acheive their startling effect not by CGI, but by carefully constructed arcs of intellect, emotion and imagery that amount to something deeply moving that stays long after the film is over. I hate to say it, but this trailer just makes The Road look a little too much like instantly forgettable The Day After Tomorrow. I am very leary at this point.
The novel on which this film is based is my favourite of McCarthy’s after Blood Meridian. But then, I loved Saramago’s Blindness the novel too, and again, in that case, the film was stunningly pedestrian. I will see the movie, but now my expectations are halved. Sad but true.
Lmao, this tread is so funny! Wow, Viggo does look like a trailer trash chick and the kid like Marilyn Manson the way of Syd Vicious.
I read the book and it’s nothing like Revolutionary Road. Those people felt sorry for themselves and didn’t even have a bad life. They were not likeable people. The man and the boy are people that you invest feelings toward. You root for them.
True, The Road is a bleak premise but there is an underlying theme to the bleakness. I have read the book twice. It really is a page turner. You become involved into the man and the boy. You care about them. I don’t want to spoil it too much, but it’s about not giving up. About the power of courage. I guess it depends on where each person’s mind set is at right now. If you are a depressed person now, this might not be the film for you. But if you can go into the film with an open mind and ” get ” there really is a meaning beyond the bleakness that these people have choices…they can give up and be killed or kill themselves or they can carry on and hope to make it to the coast and to something that may actually turn out positive.
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