I loved reading Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". It plodded along only offering little tidbits of information and before I knew it I was completely engorged and totally in love with the boy and the man who continue to travel down the road despite the ever increasing sense that all hope is lost. I read the book in a hurry so I could catch the upcoming film release.
The movie was the longest film of my entire life. Naturally I'm exaggerating but the book just didn't translate to film very well at all. The characters looked exactly like I would expect them to and they acted their roles perfectly. The landscape looked as bleak and dismal as I had imagined. The book had an element of surprise that the film just couldn't seem to master. I enjoy film adaptations of novels because I like to see what they add or take out. In the case of this film they didn't do enough of either. I appreciate the loyalty to McCarthy's text but for the audiences sake they could have pumped a little more action into that limp plot. ;)
Needless to say, my compadre Jae and I were fidgeting and bouncing around in our seats for about the last 45 minutes of the film. I wished they would just die already and give up, I was already contemplating suicide myself.
It was my boyfriend Chris who was filled with anticipation for "Book of Eli" so I surrendered my Sunday to the cause. Book of Eli made up in spades for what "The Road" lacked in plot and as a result it also lacked some of "The Road"s poignancy. They were surprisingly similar in that the world has long since been burned, there is little food or water, people have become cannibals and criminals to survive, for the most case humanity has been destroyed. They both deal with themes of faith and survival. I came across a few issues in the film though:
This seems to me to be a realistic depiction of what your post-apocalyptic family would look like in a world of minimal shelter and sustenance. You can practically see stink lines coming off this sad father son duo. Viggo Mortensen was the perfectly choice for this physically because he naturally rocks the crack fiend malnourished look.
This is the guy at the OSCARS! I'm not going to lie, if I saw this guy in the grocery store I'd put my hand over my wallet. And I would definitely purell after any sort of interaction.
Now lets compare these grubby little gaffers to Denzel.
Aside from his blatant hygiene which they sort of address in the film, his clothes look only slightly weather if not brand new. He looks like he stopped off at Eddie Bauer before taking a hike up Tea Pot hill. I don't understand how a man on such a one track minded mission manages to maintain a nice beard and perfectly quaffed do. Not to mention
There is no way there is ANYTHING this nice looking in the post apocalyptic world!
I'm glad that in a future with little to no water, chap stick, food or anything of value that there is still: hairbrushes, eyebrow shaping tools, concealer, and mascara. Then again, maybe "The Road" would have been slightly more entertaining if they had brought this little muffin along for the ride.
All in all, I hate to admit that I would way rather watch "The Book of Eli" than "The Road". I would actually probably watch "Eli" again. It was badass while not being entirely cheesy and Gary Oldman is awesome as usual (that guy has some of the best spazz outs in film history). I appreciate that they didn't have any banging going on between the male and female lead which made their relationship more believable and as a result her character way less expendable. I like Denzel, I always like Denzel. He doesn't have a ton of range in his acting ability but the earnestness of his characters makes him very easy and enjoyable to watch.
