[7]

Viggo Mortensen travels with his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) across a post-apocalyptic wasteland in this bleak drama based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. The premise is intriguing, far more than the movie dares explore, even with an R-rating. The storyline hangs on the intimate relationship between father and son. Viggo is frighteningly open with the boy, explaining how they’re going to have to kill themselves before they allow anyone to catch and torture them… or worse. We even see Viggo put a gun to the boy’s head on more than one occasion. In narration that may or may not be necessary, Viggo explains that he’s trying to prepare the boy for when he’s no longer around to protect him. I thought this notion would bear fruit in an emotional climax, but oddly, it doesn’t. Dramatic potential goes untapped. The boy does not become a man. And The Road, while a good film, does not become a great one. With Charlize Theron.