Comments on: The Road (2009)

By: David

David — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:41:08 +0000

i don’t know if you’re monitoring this admittedly old post, but i finally saw “the road” the other day and it seemed to me to be a metaphor for how every generation passes out of this world, only to be replaced by the next. for the man, the world grows inhospitable. he tries to interact with it in a manner informed by his experience in the world that came before and because he can never forget the world that no longer exists, he also can never fully exist in the world that has come to be. the boy, on the other hand, inherits the man’s goodness and, because he knows nothing but the world that he was born into, he is able to navigate through it in a way the man cannot.

one interesting difference between the book and the movie to me happens at the end when the boy encounters the other family. in the book, i believe they tell him that if he chooses to go on by himself, he should stay off the road because that’s where the bad people are. it’s interesting that the movie omits this because i feel like where a character finds him- or herself is almost a moral state in mccarthy’s work. i’m not sure if we’re meant to think that perhaps the fact that the man and the boy find themselves amongst the worst of the worst is somehow partially a result of some moral taint, no matter how slight, but it is interesting that it’s implied that there are pockets of goodness that exist away from the road—that things aren’t nearly as bleak as what the man, the boy, and the audience have witnessed so far.

to me, the film’s biggest flaw is the deep nostalgia it treats the pre-apocalyptic scenes with. somehow i don’t think mccarthy would have been so sentimental.

By: Mo

Mo — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:08:46 +0000

I don’t know if “enjoyed” is the proper word to describe my reaction to the book, but I was glad I read it. I couldn’t put it down and it ended on a much more positive note than what I expected.

I am interested in the film, but only after it comes to DVD. If it’s true to the book, two or more hours of that level of dreariness and despair on a screen without being able to pause and take a break is too much for me.

By: jake

jake — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:17:54 +0000

If The Road had been filmed by Terrence Malick or Hou Hsiao-hsien or any of the big screen’s great poets, it might have been a much richer, more thought-provoking experience.

I thought the same thing whlie watching the movie. I thought Terrence Malick would have been perfect. Good review.

By: Ian Mattair

Ian Mattair — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:29:29 +0000

I thought that this movie tackled a few issues that aren’t often addressed, and this is where the brilliance lies. I think most people would agree that the human hold on civilization (or the concept at least) is and always has been tenuous at best. It’s not a surprise that humans can fall into a feral state of violence and cannibalism as these are things humans do even in the midst of a civilized world. Human compassion or kindness in this world however, is not expressed purely through a gift of a can of food to a stranger, but through a father’s willingness to save his son from an unspeakable and horrible death. For example, in one scene the father holds a gun to his sons head with intent to shoot him in what would have been a show mercy given the circumstances. That’s mercy and compassion at its core. What a paradox. In addition, I genuinely liked the story, as hopeless and sad as it was that in real life there usually isn’t a “colony of survivors” on some beautiful beach at the end of a perilous journey; a place to start over and where everything will be ok. I think that this is the moral of the story. How do you maintain hope in a hopeless world, where there is absolutely no chance of a happy ending?

By: Victor Arnez

Victor Arnez — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:50:23 +0000

Right on point. I first hated the movie. Rather the lead male character because I saw him as a ‘PUNK’. I felt he should be concerned with teaching his son how to fight and be a hard ass. But, I went to an acting seminar the next evening and someone commented on the dept of the movie. I wondered, What the hell did I miss. I returned to see it again and my eyes opened. The lead character was not weak, he was strong. Protecting his son from danger and from becoming inhuman like most of the people that remained. The protected the humanity in his son and was nurturing under most difficult circumstances. I could not believe that I missed all of that. I realize that fear can make on fell violence is the only safe way out and that is the most important thing. But this picture demonstrated to me what the values and goals of strong men are under ANY circumstance. Protect the family, preserve the dignity and humanity for the future. Bravo! for ‘The Road”.

By: michael green

michael green — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:47:00 +0000

good review, Jeff. nicely done. i saw it last night and loved it. i have been thinking about it all day.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:46:53 +0000

Nice review indeed. It certainly sums up the big questions of humanity in a crisis. It ought to be a cathartic experience to watch this during the holidays, at least for those of us that try to practice human kindness every day. It’s a moment to pause and reflect — what can I do? What will I do? I remember seeing Schindler’s List around Christmas time when it came out. The silence the entire audience had at the end said it all. Thanks for the thoughts.

By: Jeff Keuss

Jeff Keuss — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:18:44 +0000

Nice review Jeffrey – appreciate the intertextual nod to the novel as well as acknowledging that the emotive aspects (‘how does the movie make you feel?’) deserve to be asked. I read an interview with Hillcoat where he said that after watching a rough cut of the film with Cormac McCarthy, he asked the author what he thought. In typical spartan prose, McCarthy just turned his wizened eyes upon Hillcoat and replied “More about God.” I think this sums up what McCarthy scholars call the “Western books” thematically – everything after “Blood Meridan” through the Border Triology to “The Road.” I have written a bit on McCarthy and still assert that he is ‘god starved’ in his prose and that is what is so evocative for people. At any rate, looking forward to the review – looking forward to seeing the film!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:39:20 +0000

I found myself very moved by the scene with Eli, when they’re walking to the place where they’ll eat dinner. The Boy is holding Eli’s hand and the Man tells him not to. Eli lets go but then there’s a very gentle moment where he runs his hand along Eli’s back.

I found a major theme of this film to be that Eli’s “fire,” his humanity, carries with it a very Christlike compassion and gentleness that his father has hidden in order to protect his son. While the father has instilled in the Boy the importance of humanity and morality, the Boy is acting out on it and demonstrating the one thing there’s a lack of in the bleak world they live in (and that we do): compassion. It’s one thing to vow that they’ll never eat anyone “no matter how hungry they get”. But his outrage over his father’s treatment of the thief moved me to tears, reminding me of Christ’s command to love our enemies, turn the other cheek and pray for those who persecute us.