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I actually read Cormac McCarthy's novel earlier this year. It's a Pulitzer-winner, so I broke out of my usual habit of only reading old classics (which really is just a habit rather than a rule, but habits are so comfortable, aren't they?). In this instance, I was glad I broke out because it was a simply told yet compelling novel. I just checked my blog and realized I never reviewed it. Oops. Well, it certainly kept me riveted while I waited inside the Compton jury assembly room. Once I was done reading it I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. After all, it stars Viggo Mortensen, looks amazing, and has a score by Nick Cave - what could possibly go wrong? For me, what went wrong were several little things.

For those unfamiliar with the story, it takes place in the future, after an unknown global calamity has taken place, leaving most of the world burned and damaged. A man and his son are traveling down a road towards the coast in hopes that circumstances will be better for them there, especially during the winter months. As they travel, they have to face all sorts of antagonists, including cannibals, other men will do anything to survive, memories of the past, the weather, and starvation.

Part of the problem of reading a novel too close to watching a movie is that one develops his or her interpretation of that novel's tone and expects the movie to match it. The Road, as a novel, is completely bleak. It's got some heartfelt scenes, but most of them are devastating. In the movie, there are a lot of scenes that I assume are created to be touching but turn out to be slightly contrived. One of the key elements contributing to this is, sadly, the score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. When the movie ended, the first thing out of my mouth was how much I hated the score. I had forgotten that it was by Cave at that moment, and laughed pretty hard when I found out later on, since I'm such a big fan of his. As I'm listening to pieces of it off the internet right now, I realize that it's actually good music; but the way it comes across in the scenes is almost like watching a made-for-TV movie. The scenes end up feeling a little too sappy especially with some of the soft piano pieces. So, instead of the more dismal tones I would have expected to accompany what I was seeing on the screen, there was a softer touch to the music that seemed contrary to the nature of both the movie and the novel. It was really disappointing for me.

What I did love was the look of the present-day (or future) in this film, which is directed by John Hillcoat, who also directed The Proposition - another gritty movie. The color-palette is dark and a little bit washed out, but mostly because that's actually how the world would look if it were covered in ash. My husband hated it, but he hadn't read the book, which describes this look in great detail. I felt like it was a very accurate representation of McCarthy's vision and really set the stage for an interesting traveler's tale.

Unfortunately, because this is a traveler's tale, that is actually one of its problems, at least in the eyes of my husband, who felt like there was no real drive to the plot. He felt like the story meandered and that there wasn't enough character development as a result. I can see where he's coming from. I think one of the benefits of reading a novel in advance of watching a movie is that when we watch a movie, we can use the feelings that we felt while reading and apply them to the movie. Or, because we know what's going to happen, we can sometimes feel a heightened sense of anticipation. So, while Ric was bored, I was thinking about what was going to happen next, how it was going to be visualized, and remembering what the man's thoughts were as he went through those moments. It added an extra layer that only the reader can experience, and I think that's why I ultimately enjoyed this movie a lot more than Ric did.

As for acting, Mortensen gives a great performance. He reads more sappily into the character of the man than I would have liked, because I saw the man as a little more matter-of-fact than Mortensen plays him. Really, my only problem with him is with the flashback scenes. I didn't care for the tone of them, how Charlize Theron played the wife, or how Mortensen responded to her. This, again, comes down to expectations. Otherwise, I really appreciated how Mortensen was practically unrecognizable in appearance and his approach to survival in the rest of the movie is exactly what I had envisioned. The boy, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, was a little bit off in casting. He is older than I expected; somehow it just doesn't ring true when he calls his father "Papa" or when he cries. These small, slightly-off touches with the acting and casting left an unsettled feeling in my mind that took me several days to decipher. The whole time I watched the movie, I knew it was well-made, but I knew that something besides the music didn't feel right.

In the end, The Road ended up leaving me with a slightly disappointed feeling that grew over time as I thought about it more. While I really appreciated how it looked, Mortensen's performance, and the themes about what makes man human/humane, I think it suffered due to the uneven tones of some of the actors and the music. It was worth the watch for me, but unfortunately it won't hit my top ten for the year.