http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/

John Hillcoat will become one of the best directors of our decade. This film and The Proposition show that not only is he great at creating atmosphere, but his films also have some fantastic characters. I consider The Proposition to be the best western of the decade, and this just might become one of my favorite overall films of the decade if it can stand a second viewing. The plot of this film is kept vague on purpose. All we know is that the world has ended. Why? Because it has thats why. We are never given a reason as to why the world ends, we are just given these characters and a couple of brief flashbacks. Before I spend too much time praising the film I want to mention the only bad things about it. The flashbacks were all done well, but a couple were a bit less needed than others. Also the music by Nick Cave, while being mostly fantastic wasn't always needed. Now on to the good parts. The acting here has got to be some of the best of the year by far. I have always liked Viggo Mortenson, even before the lord of the rings films. Here though he was amazing as the father. His struggles to protect his son and teach him how to survive if he dies are heartbreaking. You really feel his pain and he wanders the desolate world. Kodi McPhee is also great as the boy. Not many kids could have done his role well, but he does it better than any kid I have seen in years. The way the dad and his boy interact are some of the most touching scenes in the film. Their trust in each other feels real and it is beautiful yet tragic at the same time. Charlez Theron also does well as the wife in the flashbacks. These exist to show that the dad clings to his memories to keep him going. Whether they are positive or negative, he seems to need them to stay sane and he finds it difficult to let them go. The visuals are also fantastic, they really set the tone and make the world look dead. Many have complained that this film is plotless and the characters dont evolve. I strongly disagree. What plot could a film like this have? Would a search and rescue plot where the boy and his son have to find the mother who was kidnapped be more in line with what the mainstream want?

Sure the film could throw in some more plot, but that is not the point of the film. There is no end to this film, there is only the road the characters follow.Nothing is certain in this film, you never really know who is good and who is bad. Most people appear to be bad, but there are some exceptions like a 90 year old man played by the excellent as usual Robert Duvall who the boy and his dad meet on the road. What is his point? Well he doesn't have a point. He, like the boy, are in the film to show some hint of humanity. That there is a always some hope to be found even in the darkest of times. The boy is meant to be the hope that his father his in the world. Even the film's ending doesn't explain the future of anything in the film. Most of it is open to your interpretation. I can understand why some people wouldn't like this film. It is very bleak and depressing and essentially plotless aside from a vague idea of reaching the coast. However I loved it. Reminded me of films like Stalker. I think this will probably be a love it or hate it film. It has scenes that will warm your heart and others that will make you want to take a shower. However bleak I make it sound though it is still one of my favorite films of the year. The relationshop between the boy and his dad is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking I have ever seen. Viggo should be nominated for an Oscar for this, he really deserves it. I highly recommend this film, though I know it won't be for everyone. Nobody but John Hillcoat could have made a great book like The Road into a film like this. He really knows how to make bleak films and he understands that this is a film about a boy and his son trying to survive. There doesn't need to be any complex plot, the world is over and this shows how these two people deal with it. Thats all you need to know.

Overall I give it a 10 out of 10.