THE (Long and Winding) ROAD

I have a love-hate relationship with Cormac McCarthy. Well, films made from his books anyway. Seems like they'd be movies I love -- after all, most them are super-violent and depressing. ALL THE PRETTY HORSES was long and boring. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was 2/3 of an awesome movie, and then a super-frustrating ending that went literally nowhere (I suspect this worked fantastically well in the novel, however; but in a movie, you really don't want to see your protagonist die off-screen to random characters, or wait all film for a showdown between the sheriff and the bad guy that never comes).

APOCALYPTIC SPOILERS BELOW

Ably directed by John Hillcoat (who also helmed the equally fine THE PROPOSITION), THE ROAD was adapted by Joe Penhall. It tells the story of an unnamed father and son eking out an existence after an unspecified apocalypse. All animals are gone, food is scarce, and most of the remaining people have turned to cannibalism. Pretty much all the good folks have committed suicide in these bleak circumstances. But the father takes his son down the road towards the coast, seeking out signs of hope. Like all road movies, THE ROAD is episodic and picaresque. And it has its moments of utter despair, like when dad -- who's saved his last two bullets -- teaches his son the proper way to stick a gun in your mouth and fire it. But these are lessened by small moments of joy -- aiding an elderly traveler, drinking the last can of Coke in the world, coming across a bunker filled with food, sharing a bath and a haircut -- that manage to move the film out of the realm of slit-your-wrists (unlike some other great films that are too depressing to ever watch again, including HAPPINESS and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM).

There are some nice moments of sheer terror, like when the father and son stumble across a home with a basement full of still-living cannibal fodder and they have to flee as the cannibals come back; or a chase across a field of collapsing trees.

Ultimately, the elegant script manages to evoke a nice message -- that we have to accept not everything is under our control; which comes across just as the father is dying.

For a film in which there's so much blackness, you leave the theater uplifted. A nice touch.