Based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy, The Road follows the journey of a man and his son as they travel across the barren wasteland that was once the United States.  Some unnamed atrocity has ended the world in a flash.  The sky is gray and ashen, the trees are dead and there is no wildlife remaining.  The only people left fall into two categories.  Either they are desperate wanderers like our protagonists or bands of cannibals who prey on the wanderers.  Cannibalism is the greatest fear and one that seems to wait around every corner.  There is no life, merely survival.  There is little wonder that the mother (Charlize Theron) checked out before our story began, leaving the father with only dreams of his past life to haunt his sleep.

Realizing they have no chance of surviving another winter in their former location, the father (Viggo Mortensen) sets out to lead his son south toward the coast with the hope of a warmer climate and a more forgiving climate, perhaps with food.  Along the way, they struggle to maintain the sense of humanity that sets the "good guys" apart from the "bad."  The son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) has retained his childish innocence throughout and seeks to see the good in people while his father has become distrustful and wary.  When they encounter an old man on the road (Robert Duvall) they invite him to join them for food at the boy's bidding. 

The landscape is as bleak as the outlook in this film with a colorless sky and fauna to match.  The only spectrum seen is a brief glance of a rainbow at a waterfall but it lacks the promise of hope that generally accompanies the sight.  There is no hope.  There is only survival.  The world that director John Hillcoat has created is a direct reflection of the hearts of those holding on to life.  Each moment of rest is punctuated with danger.  Each promise of hope is dashed as quickly as it arises.  There have been numerous post-apocalyptic films of late and this is one of the best.  It is gritty, unclean and harsh just like the world it portrays.  It digs in with cold reality and begs the question:  is it better to live or die in a world like this?  But as the Old Man states when asked if he ever wishes he would die, "it is foolish to ask for luxuries in times like these."  The father knows he is not long for this world so he attempts to instill in his son the tools needed to go on.  He tries to teach him to be wary of strangers but in the end, it is perhaps only the son who holds onto humanity.  And that could be his saving grace.  Perhaps it will be the saving grace of the human race as a whole. 

The landscape is as bleak as the outlook in this film with a colorless sky and fauna to match.  The only spectrum seen is a brief glance of a rainbow at a waterfall but it lacks the promise of hope that generally accompanies the sight.  There is no hope.  There is only survival.  The world that director John Hillcoat has created is a direct reflection of the hearts of those holding on to life.  Each moment of rest is punctuated with danger.  Each promise of hope is dashed as quickly as it arises.  There have been numerous post-apocalyptic films of late and this is one of the best.  It is gritty, unclean and harsh just like the world it portrays.  It digs in with cold reality and begs the question:  is it better to live or die in a world like this?  But as the Old Man states when asked if he ever wishes he would die, "it is foolish to ask for luxuries in times like these."  The father knows he is not long for this world so he attempts to instill in his son the tools needed to go on.  He tries to teach him to be wary of strangers but in the end, it is perhaps only the son who holds onto humanity.  And that could be his saving grace.  Perhaps it will be the saving grace of the human race as a whole.