"The Road" is post-apocalyptic bore

The relationship between a father and son is one of the most talked about topics in the world of art. Sadly, The Road adds little to the conversation.

Set somewhere in the post-apocalyptic northeast, this film's landscape and make up are the true stars.

The Road follows the story of a father and son, who are not named, as they trek southward to reach warmer climates. The Earth has become a burnt shell of itself in this film, but no reason for the apocalypse is ever given. The story slowly develops over the two hour run time with Viggo Mortensen being the film's one long-lasting saving grace.

The real problem is the movie does a horrible job conveying the relationship of the father and the son. The script, which is almost a direct import from the dialogue of the book, is there to make the connections, but for some reason the actors don't.

One major flaw was the casting of Kodi Smit-McPhee as the son. Aside from not having enough acting experience to take on a role of this depth, McPhee is too old. The son's actions reflected those of a seven or eight year-old child while McPhee was 12 when The Road was filmed. His lines fall flat and although Mortensen does a superb job showing his character's love for his son, the emotion is not reciprocated by McPhee.

Aside from the father and son relationship the film does a poor job showing the hopelessness of the situation. This is supposed to be a world with little food, filled with bacteria and disease. At one point in the film the son gets sick and it's played off as if it's no big deal. There are no doctors anymore, so running a high fever and vomiting should be portrayed as a major problem.

The Road is not all bad though. The landscape of the film is phenomenal, set in grey tones, which really intensify the image of death. There are two cameos in the movie, which also add to the experience which would other wise be awful. Robert Duval plays Ely, a road weary old man, and Guy Pearce makes a brief appearance in the last 10 minutes of the movie as a kind veteran.

These two brief appearances don't salvage the rest of the film unfortunately, which is bogged down by the disappointing relation between the father and son.