Another Road Taken

In a 9.12 piece called "Sumptuous Devastation," I described John Hillcoat's The Road (which I had just seen) as "two hours of rotted, ash-covered, end-of-the-world remnants captured in ravishing, desaturated, ugly-beautiful photography with highly admirable production design. Viggo Mortensen and the kid are very good...yes, fine. But what they bring isn't nearly enough.

"I read Cormac McCarthy's novel for the exquisitely plain prose, but the movie is quite unnecessary. It really and truly goes nowhere, enhances nothing, offers no poetry of any transformative value and adds nothing to the conversation. Plus it has a lousy story. You can have it. I'll never watch The Road again. You can give me the Blu-ray and I'll never pop it in."

What You Get<< previous | next >>"Lowers The Bar"?

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 1, 2009 at 7:17 AM

comment #1

carlos alejandro Author Profile Page says ...

Jeff, not related to 'The Road', but in case you have not seen it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C92OsQ3jiQQ

(Thought you might like that.)

Posted by carlos alejandro Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 7:39 AM

comment #2

George Prager Author Profile Page says ...

The film equivalent of Lunchables.

Posted by George Prager Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 7:52 AM

comment #3

COCO Author Profile Page says ...

Is this a miss?....the book haunted me for days.....
I felt sad for us all (if it were to finally end like this)
How would someone react to the world ending?
The film is too devestating in the doom portrayed.

Posted by COCO Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 8:59 AM

comment #4

THE MovieBob Author Profile Page says ...

Some things just don't work adapted "straight" - i.e. without reworking or embellishing.

This is one of them.

Posted by THE MovieBob Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 9:41 AM

comment #5

erniesouchak Author Profile Page says ...

I agree 100 percent -- maybe for the first time ever!

Posted by erniesouchak Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 9:51 AM

comment #6

erniesouchak Author Profile Page says ...

You know, Wells, I think you could make the same basic argument about "Revolutionary Road," but you loved that one.

Posted by erniesouchak Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 2:22 PM

comment #7

televisiontears Author Profile Page says ...

I didn't notice it the first time I saw this trailer, but there's a serious Wilhelm Scream towards the end.

Posted by televisiontears Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 2:40 PM

comment #8

K. Bowen Author Profile Page says ...

Loved it.

Posted by K. Bowen Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 2:40 PM

comment #9

Krazy Eyes Author Profile Page says ...

Is that really a Wilhelm Scream? Sounds more like the Tie Fighter scream to me. I don't think they originate from the same source.

Posted by Krazy Eyes Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 4:05 PM

comment #10

DeeZee Author Profile Page says ...

carlos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N-arXkfZds

Posted by DeeZee Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 8:57 PM

comment #11

Admiral82 Author Profile Page says ...

I just started reading the book. I can't put it down. I'm not real hyped about this film though.

Posted by Admiral82 Author Profile Page at November 1, 2009 9:18 PM

comment #12

BurmaShave Author Profile Page says ...

Definitely not a Willhem. And fuuuuck why can't they get the tone for these trailers right. I prefer the made for TV thriller style of the first one to this bullshit that is trying to sell it like THE PERFECT STORM.

Posted by BurmaShave Author Profile Page at November 2, 2009 5:54 AM

comment #13

The Bandsaw Vigilante Author Profile Page says ...

When I first saw the "Sumptuous Devastation" headline I thought that maybe Jeff had taken up gaming, and was writing about [i]Fallout 3[/i].

Posted by The Bandsaw Vigilante Author Profile Page at November 2, 2009 2:20 PM

comment #14

The Bandsaw Vigilante Author Profile Page says ...

Ugh...there's a comma missing above, there.

Posted by The Bandsaw Vigilante Author Profile Page at November 2, 2009 2:22 PM

comment #15

mimilei Author Profile Page says ...

designer handbags
cheap handbags
cheap designer handbags
Gucci Handbags
Replica Gucci handbags
Fake Gucci handbags
Cheap Gucci Handbags
Gucci Handbags
Gucci Handbags
damier
louis vuitton damier
louis vuitton damier handbags
louis vuitton wallet
designer handbags
louis vuitton handbags

Posted by mimilei Author Profile Page at January 10, 2011 11:59 PM

comment #16

Busta Author Profile Page says ...

This really is an awesome post, I'm happy I recently found. I have been trying to find guest writers for my roids blog so if you ever decide that's something you are interested in please feel free to contact me. I will be back to look at out more of your articles later!

Posted by Busta Author Profile Page at January 31, 2011 1:21 PM

comment #17

online games Author Profile Page says ...

I love that movie "Road".it is very interesting.i used to see it many times :-)

Posted by online games Author Profile Page at February 16, 2011 1:03 AM

Leave a comment