The Road - Keep Going, Son!

 (2009) ★★★★☆

When the end credits turn up, don't get up and leave yet. Stay seated for a while. Listen to the theme music. Think of the relatively cosy life you can enjoy now, the people you love and those who love you. Compare it with what happens there in the film. Then tears would be rolling down your cheeks, just like I experienced.

It made me think for quite a while about how lucky I am to have adequate food, clean water, a decent place to stay, a comfy bed to sleep in, clothes and comforters to keep warm, the love and care from the people I love and care...; how thankful I should be that I don't need to have a gun in my hand and get ready to put it in my mouth and pull the trigger whenever it's time; how paternal a father could be to his son, while there're parents ill-treating their kids like animals; how people could end their life so casually while there're still certain opportunities and hopes.

In a post-apocalyptic world, a father (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) are on the road heading to the sea for reasons unknown. There're flashbacks of some talks between the man and his wife before and after their son is born, that don't mean nor explain anything though. I guess why the world is ending and what they want to go to the coast for, are not the main concern of this film. What it really wants to tell is how the father and son survive their dangerous journey as possible cannibals are out there preying. So a simple walk down the road could be extremely difficult without enough food and clothes and shoes... and a gun. The purpose of life is nothing fancy-fill the stomach, get covered, stay alive and keep going.

You may be let down since the ending is not so promising as you think it should, or be bored since there ain't no twists nor actions. Mortensen (The King, The Lords Of The Rings), nonetheless, dropped his crown and did a terrific job playing a simpatico and strong-willed father who would risk anything to protect his son. His narratives are moving and thought-provoking. The way he talks and acts are convincing enough to make us believe that in a bleak landscape like that, hope and love are everything you ever need.

This is a film for those who think life's nothing but a joke to see what life's all about when all you must worry are the cold and food and shoes...