If you saw director John Hillcoat’s last film The Proposition, then you know that he is perhaps the only man suited to adapt Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. The world as we know it has been utterly destroyed: Society no longer functions and every bit of infrastructure is gone. A father and son struggle to survive as they make their way across the country armed with only a pistol and a shopping cart full of supplies. The titular road they travel is rife with roving gangs, cannibals and other survivors. That is the film’s premise. However, McCarthy’s novel, like the film is less about the story and more about setting a mood and tone. Hillcoat totally captures the bleak and depressing tone of the novel and strikes all the notes he needs to hit. In fact, The Road is easily the most faithful adaptation of a novel I’ve ever seen. The film is a grim experience, one that will stick with you. I don’t know how much of my enjoyment of the film can be attributed to my love of the novel — if you can call a 300 page window into a nightmarish existence enjoyable. Both the film and the book are great, but they are each truly unpleasant experiences. Spoilers to follow.
The Road is not nearly as graphic as the book was, which described horrific acts of cannibalism and savagery in great detail. Make no mistake though, the film definitely has some very disturbing moments. If you’ve read the book then you know what to expect; you won’t see babies roasting on spits, but almost everything else makes the cut. With the exception of a few flashbacks with the Wife, played by Charlize Theron, every scene is right out of the novel. The addition of the Wife character doesn’t detract from the film, her presence feels very natural. She’s not in it much, but she’s a beacon of light in an otherwise grey and black world.
