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The Road (2009)

tomatometer

75

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 197
Fresh: 147 | Rotten: 50

The Road's commitment to Cormac McCarthy's dark vision may prove too unyielding for some, but the film benefits from hauntingly powerful performances from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi McPhee.

63

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 13

The Road's commitment to Cormac McCarthy's dark vision may prove too unyielding for some, but the film benefits from hauntingly powerful performances from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi McPhee.

audience

65

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 235,692

My Rating

Movie Info

A father (Viggo Mortensen) and son make their way across a post-apocalyptic United States in hopes of finding civilization amongst the nomadic cannibal tribes in 2929 Productions' adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's thrilling Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Road. John Hillcoat (The Proposition) directs from a screenplay provided by Joe Penhall. Charlize Theron co-stars in the Dimension Films release. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

R, 1 hr. 51 min.

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Joe Penhall

May 25, 2010

$8.0M

The Weinstein Co./Dimension

Cast

All Critics (197) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (149) | Rotten (51) | DVD (3)

Hillcoat certainly provides the requisite seriousness, but what the movie lacks is an underlying sense of innocence, a sense that, however far humanity has sunk, there is at least some chance of rising again.

December 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comments (20)
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It hits a few tinny, sentimental notes. Still, I admire the craft and conviction of this film, and I was impressed enough by the look and the performances to recommend that you see it.

November 30, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In this haunting portrait of America as no country for old men or young, Hillcoat -- through the artistry of Mortensen and Smit-McPhee -- carries the fire of our shared humanity and lets it burn bright and true.

November 29, 2009 Comment
Rolling Stone
Top Critic IconTop Critic

How could anything so bleak be so promising?

November 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

You hang on to yourself for dear life, resisting belief as best you can in the face of powerful acting, persuasive filmmaking and the perversely compelling certainty that nothing will turn out all right.

November 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | Comment (1)
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Is the film too grim? Or not grim enough? In a perverse way, I fear it's both.

November 26, 2009 Full Review Source: New Republic | Comment
New Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Unpleasant post-apocalyptic drama.

June 16, 2011 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comments (2)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Hillcoat does his best, and for the most part, he succeeds. The horrifically desolate landscape and the drab greys and cobalt blues of the scarred sky pervade every shot.

October 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Quickflix | Comment (1)

Una película agobiante, notablemente realizada y narrada. Tan dura y desoladora como el futuro posible que describe.

October 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total

This is a tough road to follow

September 28, 2010 Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | Comment
3BlackChicks Review

Without watering down Cormac McCarthy's hangman prose, John Hillcoat's adaptation transcended sad, gray apocalypse tropes to become an unexpectedly uplifting parable about faith, kindness and family at world's end.

September 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment
Suite101.com

...only half as traumatic as the Cormac McCarthy novel on which it's based - which of course means that it will still leave you a wreck.

July 15, 2010 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm | Comment
LarsenOnFilm

Has an interesting thesis about morality and humanity, but lacks complexity in its approach.

June 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | Comments (4)
Window to the Movies

"The images are searing, but there's little for Hillcoat to bat around besides endless agony. The Road is glacial and precise, but rarely offers the viewer something to chew on besides utter finality."

June 2, 2010 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | Comment (1)
BrianOrndorf.com

While identifying with characters in a bad situation is a movie must, drowning in their deep funk as much as they do, is a narrative no-no.

June 1, 2010 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comment
NewsBlaze

While identifying with characters in a bad situation is a movie must, drowning in their deep funk as much as they do, is a narrative no-no.

June 1, 2010 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comments (6)
NewsBlaze

Shames most films with the audacity to consider themselves tearjerkers.

May 27, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment (1)
Suite101.com

Um filme difícil e angustiante. (...) Mas, talvez mais surpreendente, representa uma experiência profundamente tocante.

May 26, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | Comment
Cinema em Cena

A muddled vision, but one anchored by fiercely convicted performances by Viggo Mortensen and Robert Duvall and haunting camerawork by Javier Aguirresarobe.

May 24, 2010 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Relentlessly bleak, but profound and in many ways beautiful, the voyage through The Road's utterly convincing wasteland is a raw, haunting experience but a rewarding one nonetheless.

May 14, 2010 Full Review Source: SFX Magazine | Comment
SFX Magazine

In a post-Apocalypse world in which you can't tell the difference between good guys and bad guys, it's better to trust no one, and Man will do anything to protect Boy.

March 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Moving Pictures Magazine | Comment
Moving Pictures Magazine

It's just a slow wander through wreckage, waiting for bad stuff to get worse.

March 19, 2010 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | Comments (17)
Philadelphia Weekly

The dull gray monotony of existence never looked as uninviting as it does in this film.

March 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | Comments (2)
Laramie Movie Scope

When the world goes Boom! I want Viggo Mortensen to be my dad. Who better to keep your spirits up in the hideous post-apocalyptic after life as pictured here?

February 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Windy City Times | Comment (1)
Windy City Times

The Road is a haunting portrait of what it means to be a parent.

January 31, 2010 Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | Comment
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

Avoiding all the pit falls of the bleak genre, The Road is captivating and in the end inspiring, and though not a film for everyone, a great film for any who enjoy thoughtful, artful cinema.

January 30, 2010 Full Review Source: smh.com.au | Comment
smh.com.au
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Road

A beautifully shot film with a haunting soundtrack that adds to the depressing and often disturbing story of a father trying to keep his son alive in a post apocalyptic world. Mortensen is simply amazing as the father and the youngster Kodi Smit-Mcphee is great as the son. It doesnt matter what happened, it just did

November 28, 2009
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

A gritty, depressing look into a post-apocalyptic world. Sounds like an interesting approach to an apocalyptic setting but unfortunately, the pacing suffers. The pacing is never redeemed. Viggo Mortensen, as always, captures the screen but with little to no dialogue, the performance can be magnetic but not enough to

April 5, 2011
Albert Kim

Super Reviewer

    1. The Man: I told the boy when you dream about bad things happening, it means you're still fighting and you're still alive. It's when you start to dream about good things that you should start to worry.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. The Man: I will kill anyone who touches you. Because that's my job.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

Latest News for The Road

February 1, 2012:
Ridley Scott Wants Cormac McCarthy's The Counselor
He's in talks to direct the Pulitzer-winning author's first spec script.

September 15, 2011:
James Franco Wants to Adapt Cormac McCarthy's Child of God
He has it on his ever-growing pile of multimedia projects.

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Foreign Titles

  • The Road (2009) (CA)
  • La Route (FR)
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