The Road - bleak

Old Viggo Mortensen has to be applauded for what he has done to his career since Lord of the Rings. It would have been so easy to go down the Orlando Bloom route of using his new-found stardom to earn piles of cash in a series of god-awful Holywood action tripe-fests; instead he is using his currency as a star earn himself roles in a series intelligent modern mini classics. 'Eastern Promises', 'Good' and now 'The Road' - all films in which the ability to act has been a requirement rather than an added bonus. Viggo has shown himself to fit into the roles demanded of him with ease.

So we know that Viggo's awesome, what of this new film. It's the story of a man and his son, and their journey across an apocalypse-ravaged landscape in search of survival. It's a bleak place with no animals, few plants and where a simple can of coke is a luxury to be treasured. In flashbacks we see glimpses of the man's life before the end of civilisation, moments with his wife and their son before they were separated for good.

The flashbacks posed more questions than they answered though. For example Viggo runs a bath of water when he hears noises and fires outside their house. Now, any survivalist worth his salt will tell you that the first thing you do when the end comes is to horde as much water as you can before the pumps stop working - clever Viggo. But then literally all that's happened to prompt him is some noises and a fire outside his house. Does he react like this every time there's something unsettling going on in his street? Must be a nightmare for the neighbours. So perhaps his character had prior knowledge that the end might be coming? Perhaps that's why he seems to have survived so long after the end? Perhaps there's a sordid back story? Answers to these questions are never forthcoming.

This is a grim film, one in which there clearly isn't going to be a satisfying or overtly 'happily ever after' ending. We don't get anywhere near finding out how much hope is left in the world, indeed we don't even get to find out what it is that caused the apocalypse (although the possible effects of a nuclear holocaust are hinted at). This was satisfying, since it meant that the film focussed entirely on the drama of the man, his son and the people they encounter on their travels, rather than looking at the bigger picture of what was going on in the world. Everything that happens is a picture of hopelessness, of how humanity could turn in on itself if the thin veneer of civilisation was suddenly no longer present.

But then, after all that there is an ever-so-slight glimmer of hope at the end of the film. It's almost as if the cynicism of the past is being washed away by the cleansing affect of the apocalypse. An odd sentiment I know, but it's difficult to describe what I thought about the ending without giving too much away (not that there's much in the way of a twist of course). Probably not essential that you see it in the cinema, but certainly worth a 100 minute investment to see a couple of fantastic acting performances.