There are positive and negative affects to the exploration of the character of The Wife in the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. On one hand, there is a dichotomy – similar to The Godfather Part II – where the audience can see the resolve of The Wife crumble as The Boy develops his own ten years later. On the other hand, it opens the doors to questions which dilute one of the key attributes of the text: the fact that The Man could be anyone. We don’t know what happened to Earth, who he was, or how he was able to survive and raise his child. Now that we know that his wife gave up and walked away, questions such as what went wrong, how did The Boy react, or what happened to The Man’s friends linger.
The themes of the book are simple and brutal. The planet has been destroyed, cannibals roam the major roads, and almost all life has been extinguished. Yet the perseverance of a man and his son as they travel to the coast in search of a better life remains. The undying love and devotion of a father and the creativity and ingenuity of an average person allow humanity to survive.
I always saw The Road as a work that looked forward. What has been has been and we can only recover and persevere. The Man and The Boy must push forward, making daily progress towards the mythical coast. The hero must follow his quest; life requires one to overcome adversity. Yet Viggo Mortensen’s protagonist reminisces frequently, dreaming of his wife or treasuring the holiday dreams of his childhood. I thought that The Man possessed a steely will, focused nearly exclusively on the survival of his child.
“If he is not the word of God, God never spoke.”
That singularity of purpose is lacking in the film.
In my view, The Boy played a more active role in the film. He became more mature as the journey progressed, leaving his childish toys and ideas behind. At times, he serves as the conscience to The Man, who had taught them that they were “the good guys” who were “carrying the fire.” The Man becomes so consumed with survival that he deviates from the morals which he taught his son. Later in the film, The Boy assumes a role as a moral compass. Since he never lived before the tribulation, he has no idea of what life he is missing yet remains entirely innocent.
The scenery is bleak and beautiful, suiting McCormac’s desolate yet lyrical prose perfectly. To me, this was the country that was travelled in the book and it is not to far from the world we inhabit today. The actors who played the few speaking parts were strong; the sparse cast carried the fire admirably for the novel. Can I say that The Road is everything that I expected but still a disappointment? I was exposed to the book late but loved it. This is a spectacular adaptation. Yet something is lacking and it is difficult to pinpoint, elusive like the last can of Coke in a broken vending machine. ***½