A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the warmer south, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there.
<%%item_is_not_adult%%

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Father: Viggo Mortensen
• Boy: Kodi Smit-McPhee
• Mother: Charlize Theron
• Old Man – Eli: Robert Duvall
• Veteran: Guy Pearce
• Friendly Woman: Molly Parker
• The Thief: Michael Kenneth Williams
• Gang Member: Garret Dillahunt
• Bearded Man: Bob Jennings
• Archer: Buddy Sosthand
• Archer’s Woman: Agnes Herrmann
• Bearded Face: Kirk Brown
• Bearded Man #2: Jack Erdie
• Man On Mattress: David August Lindauer
• Well Fed Woman: Gina Preciado
• Boy running from cannibals: Wilson Moore
• Baby Eater: Mark Tierno

Film Crew:

• Additional Editor: Craig Wood
• Director of Photography: Javier Aguirresarobe
• Casting: Francine Maisler
• Camera Operator: Eric Alan Edwards
• Producer: Nick Wechsler
• Set Decoration: Robert Greenfield
• Sound Mixer: Edward Tise
• Editor: Jon Gregory
• Foley Artist: Goro Koyama
• Foley Artist: Andy Malcolm
• Sound Designer: Leslie Shatz
• Executive Producer: Mark Cuban
• Music: Nick Cave
• Music: Warren Ellis
• Novel: Cormac McCarthy
• Art Direction: Gershon Ginsburg
• Compositor: Brian Sales
• Screenplay: Joe Penhall
• Supervising Sound Editor: Robert Jackson
• Director: John Hillcoat
• Production Design: Chris Kennedy
• Special Effects Coordinator: David Fletcher
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Chris David
• ADR Voice Casting: Barbara Harris
• Producer: Paula Mae Schwartz
• Producer: Steve Schwartz
• Casting Associate: Lori Lewis
• Costume Design: Margot Wilson
• Musician: Bruce White
• Visual Effects Design Consultant: Robert Stromberg
• Visual Effects Editor: Keith Croket
• Makeup Department Head: Toni G
• Additional Set Dresser: John W. Iwanonkiw
• Extras Casting: Lana Veenker
• Additional Visual Effects: Tony Trov
• Camera Loader: Moira Morel
• Gaffer: James Plannette
• Extras Casting: Nancy Mosser
• First Assistant “A” Camera: Glenn Kaplan
• Carpenter: Lance R. Walters
• Additional Visual Effects: Clarissa Shanahan
• Leadman: Paul Blanchard
• Extras Casting: Elizabeth Coulon
• Visual Effects Editor: Bryan Baker
• Sound Effects Editor: A. Josh Reinhardt
• Boom Operator: Jason Johnston
• Set Designer: Victoria Ruskin
• Musician: Gerard McCann
• Music Editor: Matt Shelton
• Casting Associate: Katie Shenot
• Visual Effects Coordinator: Brice Liesveld
• Stand In: Anne Bergstedt Jordanova
• Visual Effects Producer: Christina Graff
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Paul Graff
• Digital Effects Supervisor: Joseph DiValerio
• Location Manager: Andrew L. Ullman
• Transportation Coordinator: Poland Perkins
• Dolby Consultant: James Wright
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Glenn Allen
• Visual Effects Producer: Richard Friedlander
• Unit Publicist: Emma Cooper
• Digital Intermediate Editor: Devon Miller
• Video Assist Operator: Jimi Johnson
• Location Manager: Batou Chandler
• Visual Effects Producer: Andrea D’Amico
• Hair Department Head: Geordie Sheffer
• Scenic Artist: Renee Prince
• Second Assistant Camera: Luis Lopez DeVictoria
• Digital Intermediate Producer: Loan Phan
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Noel Hooper
• Visual Effects Producer: Christa Tazzeo
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Todd Beckett
• Sound Effects Editor: David Esparza
• Set Dresser: David Lee Toth
• Script Supervisor: Rebecca Robertson
• Scenic Artist: Vincent Borrelli
• Scenic Artist: Mary O’Brien
• Transportation Coordinator: Marc Scott
• Steadicam Operator: Dan Kneece
• Additional Editor: Rick Grayson
• Still Photographer: Macall B. Polay
• Costume Supervisor: Michele Dunn
• Stand In: T.J. Civis
• Casting Associate: Lauren Grey
• Property Master: Keith Walters
• Musician: Peter Lale
• Set Decoration Buyer: Erin Fite
• Compositor: Takashi Takeoka
• Matte Painter: Steven Messing
• Compositor: Anton Moss
• Hairstylist: Enzo Angileri
• Compositor: Jun Zhang
• Scenic Artist: Ellen Lepinski
• Key Hair Stylist: Jennifer Santiago
• Digital Intermediate: Philippe Majdalani
• Digital Effects Supervisor: Fred Pienkos
• Script Supervisor: Heidi Sturdevant
• Additional Hairstylist: Nancy Keslar
• Production Coordinator: Franses Simonovich
• ADR Recordist: Travis MacKay
• Key Grip: Manny Duran
• Dolly Grip: Joseph Ruiz
• Color Timer: Stephen R. Sheridan
• Production Assistant: Benn Wiebe
• Second Assistant Camera: Matthew Haskins
• Digital Intermediate Colorist: Michael Hatzer
• Compositing Supervisor: Ed Mendez
• First Assistant “A” Camera: Andy Harris
• Additional Visual Effects: Jeffrey Cox
• Steadicam Operator: Matías Mesa
• Foley Editor: Brian Dunlop
• Visual Effects Producer: Phillip Moses
• Craft Service: Drew Smith
• Casting Assistant: Eryn Goodman
• First Assistant “B” Camera: Peter Geraghty
• Additional Visual Effects: Leon Sanginiti
• Carpenter: Daragh Byrne
• Visual Effects Editor: Mark Wawrzenski
• Compositor: Tim Bowman
• Travel Coordinator: Elizabeth Chambers
• Set Dresser: Joe Rynearson
• Casting Assistant: Elizabeth Chodar
• Production Accountant: M. Ross-Michaels
• Location Manager: Craig W. van Gundy
• Special Effects Supervisor: Thomas Kittle
• Stand In: Gretchen Treser
• Location Manager: Jimi Woods
• Grip: Adam Grant
• Transportation Captain: Byron Roland
• Second Assistant Camera: David A. Seekins
• Techno Crane Operator: Steve Olsen
• Leadman: Kevin C. Brady
• Leadman: Chandler Vinar
• Musician: Paul Clarvis
• Musician: Warren Zielinski
• Additional Set Dresser: Brett Kennedy
• Carpenter: Daniel McGuinness
• Carpenter: Jim Heastings
• Musician: Jonathan Williams
• Assistant Location Manager: Jason Planitzer
• Matte Painter: Brian Flora
• Compositor: Chris ‘Pinkus’ Wesselman
• Musician: Chris Laurence
• Best Boy Grip: Joe Vitellaro
• First Assistant “B” Camera: Steven Mann
• Assistant Sound Editor: Callie Thurman
• Additional Set Dresser: Donald Lee Rager
• Dialect Coach: Don Wadsworth
• ADR Mixer: Eric Thompson
• Storyboard Artist: Janet Kusnick
• First Assistant Property Master: John C. Cameron
• Makeup Artist: Sherri Simmons
• Compositing Artist: Kyle Boylen
• Visual Effects Coordinator: Adica Manis
• Compositor: Ryan Leonard
• Art Department Coordinator: Amy K. Lamb
• Art Department Production Assistant: Jesse Best
• Carpenter: Scott Alplanalp
• Carpenter: Pete Frantz
• Carpenter: Ray Lovasz
• Carpenter: Dan Bothe
• Carpenter: Norm Johnson
• Carpenter: Joseph A. Manni
• Carpenter: Scott G. Smith
• Carpenter: Mark Zang
• Carpenter: Michael J. McKee
• Concept Artist: Hugh Marchant
• Construction Coordinator: Charles Miller
• Construction Coordinator: Joseph Waterkotte
• Scenic Artist: Colin Baxter
• Scenic Artist: Julie Chill
• Scenic Artist: Edward Wayne Parrish Jr.
• Scenic Artist: Alexei Plotnicov
• Scenic Artist: Christopher St. Pierre
• Scenic Artist: Edgar Um Bucholtz
• Set Dresser: Jason A. Pollock
• Set Dresser: Patcharee Blanchard
• Set Dresser: Jon Graubarth
• Set Dresser: Whitney Guerra Jr.
• Set Dresser: Ella Jackson
• Set Dresser: Adam Johnson
• Set Dresser: Jennifer Lagura
• Set Dresser: Philip Blackburn
• Storyboard Artist: Luis Russo
• Best Boy Electric: Jeff Vandermolen
• Best Boy Grip: Gregory L. Edwards
• Camera Loader: Amanda Rotzler
• Dolly Grip: Matthew Bulleri
• First Assistant “A” Camera: Jeff Graham
• First Assistant “B” Camera: Don Benson
• Grip: Joseph Edward Myers
• Second Assistant Camera: Kyril Cvetkov
• Second Assistant Camera: Kevin Huver
• Second Assistant Camera: Gabriel Velasco
• Still Photographer: Frank DiMarco
• Techno Crane Operator: Chris Hajek
• Video Assist Operator: Kale Jessen
• Digital Intermediate: Marc Lulkin
• Assistant Production Coordinator: Anna Burd
• Craft Service: Krysta Kelley
• Craft Service: Anne Mendes
• Craft Service: Brittnee Dewald
• First Assistant Accountant: Karen Yokomizo
• Payroll Accountant: Cynthia Seabock
• Production Secretary: Janet Smith
• Second Assistant Accountant: Lucy Kim Robertson
• Set Medic: William Gilson
• Set Medic: Michael Hinkel
• Set Medic: Karla Benson
• Set Medic: Carl Kent
• Set Production Assistant: Diane Kerstein
• Set Production Assistant: Jenna Rae
• Set Production Assistant: Stacy Fortenberry
• Set Production Assistant: Gerald Medina
• Set Production Assistant: Jay Watt
• Set Production Assistant: Brian Amlin
• Set Production Assistant: Matteo Faeth
• Set Production Assistant: Yarden Levo
• Set Production Assistant: Kristin Trabucco
• Stand In: Benjamin Jeran McGinn
• Stand In: Logan C. Sayre
• Studio Teacher: Jeffrey Raines
• Studio Teacher: Lynn Raines
• Transportation Coordinator: David Norris
• Transportation Coordinator: Katie Scott
• Musician: Martyn Casey
• Musician: Chris Lawrence
• Assistant Location Manager: Thomas Peters
• Assistant Location Manager: Don Baldwin
• Additional Visual Effects: Phil Bradshaw
• Additional Visual Effects: Othmar Dickbauer
• Additional Visual Effects: Luke Forker
• Additional Visual Effects: Craig Needelman
• Additional Visual Effects: Mark Norman
• Additional Visual Effects: Jack Swern
• Additional Visual Effects: John Goraj Jr.
• Compositor: Cathy Gochnour
• Compositor: Kurt Frey
• Compositor: Christopher Riemann
• Matte Painter: Dylan Cole
• Matte Painter: Christopher Evans
• Visual Effects Coordinator: Lily Kerrigan
• Scenic Artist: Joshua Hogan

Movie Reviews:

• Andres Gomez: Viggo Mortensen and Smit-McPhee deliver great performances but it doesn’t really hook you up.
• John Chard: The clocks stopped at 1:17

  The Road is directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition) and written by Joe Penhall (Enduring Love). Based on the 2006 novel of the same name by American author Cormac McCarthy (No Country For Old Men), the film stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as a father and his son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

  How do you sell such a sombre piece to the film loving public? I’m not sure I personally can, such is the whirly like emotions dominating my thoughts. OK, it’s a grim and bleak film, of that there’s no doubt. Director Hillcoat is not out to make a thrilling end of the world actioner. Staying faithful to McCarthy’s novel, this is now a world where animal & plant life is practically extinct, where this particular part of America is lawless and populated by cannibal types. Humanity has long since left the arena. How we arrived at such desolation is not clear – intentionally so. We are now just witnessing the after effects of something world changing, the fall out personally involving us as we hit the road with man & boy.

  Hillcoat and his cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe have painted a clinically dead world from which to tell the story. Scorched soil is home to threadbare trees, the skyline punctured by the wreckage of man’s progress passed, storms come and go as if to taunt the characters. It’s a living hell that begs the question on why would anyone want to survive in it? So here’s the thing that finally hit me like a sledgehammer some five days after watching the film, it’s not just the bleakness of the apocalypse that gnaws away at you, it’s also the expertly portrayed study of parenting. So emotively played by Mortensen, with Smit-McPhee essaying incredible vulnerability, it sinks the heart the longer the movie goes on. All of which is leading up to the ending, where we get something absorbing, revealing and utterly smart.

  Tough viewing for sure, but compelling and thought provoking throughout. 8/10

• Wuchak: _**Grey, maudlin post-apocalyptic drama with some horrific thrills**_

  After a mass extinction event, a man & his son (Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee) walk from western Pennsylvania to the Southeast coast trying to survive a life-or-death situation in a world without laws as people prey on each other. Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Molly Parker show up for small parts.

  Based on Cormac McCarthy’s final novel, “The Road” (2009) is similar to “Carriers,” released almost three months earlier. Unlike semi-goofy post-apocalyptic films like the original Mad Max trilogy, “The Road” and “Carriers” are deadly serious from beginning to end with no comic book nonsense. This works in their favor because both films give us a window into what life would be like after a worldwide crisis destroys conventional society.

  Each film explores one’s reaction to such a world-ending disaster: Do we forsake all sense of morality in an attempt to survive – lie, steal, forsake and murder – or do we hold on to our moral compass, come what may? Is life worth living if you must become an immoral, wicked savage to survive? Isn’t it better to live with dignity at all costs – fight with nobility and die with dignity when and if we must?

  Some denounce both flicks on the grounds that they’re too downbeat and depressing, but wouldn’t a lawless world be a very dire situation? In other words, the downbeat vibe reflects the reality of the story.

  However, “Carriers” is the superior of the two by far. “The Road” is tediously one-dimensional and unrelentingly somber. Plus the dynamics of the father & son are boring with the annoying boy almost singlehandedly ruining the movie. They needed to find a girl or a woman to shake things up – anything to dispel the grey monotony.

  The film runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot mostly in western Pennsylvania & West Virginia (the towering bridge), plus Oregon and Spirit Lake near Mount St. Helens, Washington (the log-jammed lake).

  GRADE: C+