A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

The Road: Dark, Disturbing, Powerful

by: R.J. Moeller

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I went with a few close friends to see The Road, the newly-released thriller from the same writer who brought us No Country For Old Men and starring Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings).  Before I give some of my thoughts on the film, here is the trailer:

As Wikipedia recounts:

“The Road follows the premise from the book of the same name. An unnamed father (Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) struggle to survive after an unspecified apocalypse and make their way toward the coast for possible food, shelter, safety, or to potentially find other survivors of the cataclysmic events. Along the way, they encounter grave struggles and hardships across the barren landscapes, with scarce shelter and resources available to them, and having to avoid bands of cannibals and other desperate gangs looking to pillage valuables and food.”

Now that may be the film’s synopsis, but the emotional reality of this story is something vastly different.

The heart of this movie is the relationship between Mortensen, who gives possibly his best acting performance to-date, and his son. His wife, and the boy’s mother, (Charlize Theron) is seen only through flash-backs and we come to learn that she committed suicide a few years before we pick up the tale. He is a broken man after losing his wife, but the contrast between his refusal to lose hope, and the hopelessness that engulfs the planet (and engulfed his wife) is stark and powerful.

The boy, his son, has literally and figuratively become his reason for getting out of bed each morning in this gloomy, depressing, dangerous world he finds himself in. The father continually reminds his son to never “lose the fire” inside of him, and sees in his son’s eyes the potential for mankind’s survival and redemption.

The violence in The Road is frequent, exciting and often disturbing. This isn’t some mindlessly bloody “Slasher” flick, but many of the humans left have in fact become cannibals and the director gives us more than just a passing glimpse of what eating other people would entail. But even here, amidst the harvesting of human organs and char-broiled carcasses, there is something deeper going on. The father and his son are one of the few “good people” who refuse to eat human flesh, and another stark contrast is made between the humanity of these two and the animal-like brutality of those who have succumbed to the disgusting practice.

This also moves the story forward in an important way because one of the looming dilemmas throughout the film is how and where the two of them will find food that never previously had a Social Security number.

There is only so much I can say without spoiling specific, key plot points, but I desperately want to communicate two important things about The Road. First, this is not a family-friendly movie in any sense of the term. There is no nudity or sensuality, minimal cursing, and no senseless drug use or coarse humor. However, as I’ve stated already, the violent and graphic scenes of human carnage are difficult to watch. The Road is for mature, adult audiences who are interested in a provocative look at what humans can be reduced to when hope has been lost.

The second, and final, thing I will say about this film is that if you do end up seeing it, watch it with more than just your eyes. Listen to it with more than just your ears. Think about the significant themes presented. Contemplate the profound “life questions” that confront you. Ask yourself why it is that this father, someone who has suffered so much, and refuses to acknowledge God (or any Higher Power), still fights to hold on to his humanity? What does the word "humanity" mean to you?  Does he sacrifice for his son simply because he needs a “task” to complete to keep him going, or does he (and do you) actually know there must be a point to life, to our existence?

Many will see The Road and dismiss it for not being the mile-a-minute stimulant that something like The Bourne Identity was, or the laugh-a-minute over-indulgent comedy something like The Hangover was, but for those who appreciate Hitchcock-like thrills and Dostoyevsky-like psychology, The Road will not disappoint.