The Road

Director: John Hillcoat
Year Released: 2009
Rating: 2.0

Following a post apocalyptic fallout in which the remaining inhabitants of Earth must forage for the necessities to live - or, that failing, resort to eating each other - a father (Viggo Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) trudge on to the coast, avoiding dangers and stealing sundries. Dark and morbid, it's one long funeral: Dad and Kid trek around, and Dad teaches Kid about survival and being careful who you trust while Kid teaches Dad about compassion even in the face of annihilation, but even these slight observations don't do much to make this all that illuminating. The cinematography, however, is commendable: it's essentially a black and white movie without being black and white. Soot can be exotic.