Monday, June 14, 2010

Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie review is for... 

The Road
Now, I've heard a lot about this book from my mother and a few family members, and from what they told me, I really wanted to see this in theaters. The craptacular part about it, though, was that it was not released in our area. After that, I heard nothing more about it; there weren't even commercials on television that announced the release of the DVD.

So, lo and behold, I'm walking out of work one day and see this DVD sitting on an impulse buy table on our racetrack. Excited, I told my mother and she was just as excited to see it as I was, considering she had read the book.

The next day, I go in to grab the movie and... We're SOLD OUT! WTF?! We had to get it from Wal-Mart, but we wanted to see this SO BADLY that we didn't give a crap about where we got, so long as we DID get it.

Now... On to the review!

This movie is, hands down, one of the best, most gripping movies I've seen in a long time. This movie captures the absolute desolation of The Man and The Boy and their struggle for simple survival in a world that has been utterly destroyed and man has been turned against itself.



Visual:  10 - The visuals on this movie really hit home on portraying the desolation that the world is engulfed in. The movie seems like it's been shot either in black and white or sepia tones, but it has, in fact, been shot in full color; it's just that the world is so dark, dead, and barren, and everything looks so colorless and drab that it actually looks like there's little color left. This is perfect for a movie like this, because there IS no life or color in the world that The Man and The Boy are living in and it sets the perfect setting.
Acting:  10 - Viggo Mortenson (The Man) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Boy) are excellent in this. The Man shows his frustration and desperation on keeping his son alive, despite how hopeless the odds are. The Boy shows that, despite the fact that times are so desperate that most people have resorted to cannibalism and body farming (for said cannibalism), that he is kind by nature and wants to help out even those who have tried to screw him and his father over. The way that these two carry the movie just by themselves is amazing, believable, and outright heart-wrenching.
Story/Backstory:  8 - The only reason that this isn't a 10 is because there really isn't much of a backstory, but it gets a higher grade for the fact that you don't need that much of a backstory. The world has been destroyed, for one reason or another, and The Man and The Boy fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Nobody seems to acknowledge or even remember what happened to make the world the way it has been for the past ten years, because all that a survivor needs to know is how to survive in a world full of cannibalism and death. The world is dead. Man is dying. People kill and eat each other and there are few left in the world who would stop to think about another other than themselves. But The Man and his son, The Boy, and their love for each other, is the driving force behind their continued survival.
Soundtrack:  10 - The music in this only seems to further drive home the desperation and desolation that this movie instills in you from the moment the first image appears on screen. This is definitely not a soundtrack you want to listen to if you're feeling depressed; I'd go pop in some Sir-Mix-A-Lot  Aqua  other music that would make you shake your booty off, instead.
Character/Character Devlopment:  10 - There isn't much about The Man or The Boy that you need to know except for the bits and pieces that are given to you; times were once happy, and now they aren't because the world is dead. The Boy was born after the happy time, and The Man just wants to see his son survive. The love and dedication that The Man shows to the The Boy, even as he hands his son a gun and shows him how to kill himself (in case of emergency cannibals) is heart-breaking. The Boy, despite the constant downward spiral of the health of his father and the fact that food is so scarce that he doesn't even know what cheetos are, he still shows compassion towards the same people who would probably eat him alive. These characters will stick with you until long after you've finished the movie.
Overall:  9.6 - This movie is amazing. Just like I said before, this is the best, most gripping movie I've seen in a very long time. This movie makes you stop to think about what you would do in their situation and how you may handle issues, whether it be emotionally or physically. Would you be able to show your child how to shoot his brains out if you were starving to death or being chased by body farmers/cannibals? Would you be able to show compassion to a man who had stolen every ounce of food you had, or would you leave him naked in the street without any shoes? This is a must-see movie!

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Do you have a movie you want me to see? Leave a snide remark comment and let me know! :D

2 comments:

  1. This WAS an excellent movie, just like it was an excellent book.

    I cried when The Man took the black dude's clothing and left him on the side of the road. Even though the dude had stolen from them, I still felt his shame, humiliation and pain when The Man made him stand there naked.

    Okay, so a suggestion for your next review?

    Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo....

    Yeah, I said it.

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  2. I was kinda sad when The Man took the black guy's stuff, too. I was like "Damn! You're gonna leave that guy there without any SHOES, too? WTF? That's just WRONG."

    As for reviewing Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo...

    ... I just might. Maybe. We'll see. :P

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