Cormac's McCarthy's The Road

I remember reading The Road back in 2007. It's no secret that I have an affinity for good post apocalyptic dystopia stories. I make half-assed attempts at my own from time to time, and while you would think spinning that kind of a yarn would be pretty rudimentary in terms of things like theme and setting, and i guess more often than not it is, it is very difficult to get it to resonate beyond stereotypical aesthetics. I got hung up on how "grey" McCarthy's future was, but apart from that I fascinated by the how much emotion was swimming along as an undercurrent to such a simple story. Upon finishing it, I immediately began to read it again out of fear of being left to brood about what I had just experienced.

The film is directed by John Hillcoat, an Australian director that also helmed The Proposition, which I loved. His sense of pacing and atmosphere seem the perfect match for McCarthy's father-son road trip through hell, so I was very excited when I heard the news. I was also very excited to find out that the trailer was finally out for it:



Hm. That's a lot of Charlize Theron. Her character has only a minimal amount of mention in the book, so it's a little disconcerting to see that it's been fleshed out so much for the movie. A lot disconcerting, however, is how derivative this trailer is of many apocalyptic/natural disaster thrillers like The Day After Tomorrow and I am Legend, both of which, for my money, were godawful. I am really hoping that this is more misleading marketing as opposed to a sincere depiction of the direction this film is taking. As a purist, as well as a fan of the source material, my fingers are very tightly crossed. I mean, c'mon, we all saw No Country For Old Men. A loyal and worthwhile adaptation of McCarthy's work can be done. (Just not by Billy Bob Thornton)