I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is director John Hillcoat (The Proposition) has tried to be as faithful as possible to at least the spirit of Cormac McCarthy’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The bad news is he succeeds.

Viewed as a filmic representation of the novel, the movie is a triumph. Probably a masterpiece.

Viewed as standalone cinema, well. . . .

For those of you who haven’t read the book, it’s about a nameless man (Viggo Mortensen) walking with his nameless son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) through a dismal post-apocalyptic landscape. Their goal? To reach the coast. Why? Things might be better there. That’s it. The whole story. Everything.

And that’s what Hillcoat has provided. Two hours of unremitting, painful-to-watch hopelessness. Visually striking. Brilliantly shot. Superbly acted. But bleak beyond belief—and essentially plotless.

Plotlessness works for mainstream literature. I mean, that kind of fiction is all about mining the ineffable truths of human existence, right? Plot just gets in the way of people expressing themselves. But good movies need more. Things have to happen. Important things.

Not much important happens in The Road. Oh sure, the father and son escape from human-harvesting cannibals, white-trash-on-steroids bandits, and bow-and-arrow-toting wanderers; they meet a wise hobo (an unrecognizable-until-he-opens-his-mouth Robert Duvall); and they survive wild earthquakes. But that doesn’t get us anywhere. It merely reinforces the tragic reality of things.

Despite all that, there are at least three and a half reasons why the film is probably worth your time. First, Mortensen’s portrayal of the father is magnificent. Oscar caliber. If the man isn’t nominated for an Academy Award, the system is flawed. His transformation from pre-apocalyptic everyman to post-apocalyptic uber-survivor is nothing short of extraordinary. The metamorphosis has a strongly biblical quality.

Second, the visuals. Director of photography Javier Aguirresarobe (the Twilight movies) combines color-drained cinematography with subdued broad daylight effects to give us a truly horrific wasteland.

Third, Charlize Theron as the mother. Here is where Hillcoat and scripter Joe Penhall, known primarily for his stage work, depart from the novel. In the film, the mother actually has speaking lines. She’s a real character, not merely a flashback reference. Theron imbues the mother with an aching, claustrophobic hopelessness. Not an indomitable heroine, not a lioness committed to protecting her cub at all costs, but a once-strong woman who has had her soul burned out by the cataclysm. A powerhouse performance.

The last half-reason is the three primary cameos: Duvall’s wizened but dignified hobo, a fine turn by Michael K. Williams (The Wire) as a tramp who tries to rob the father and son, and perennial favorite Guy Pearce as a tough survivor making his way south with his own family.

In short, The Road has its merits, but if you go, understand that it is severely limited by its structure. It is, for good or ill, exactly what it is supposed to be.

The Road
Dimension Films
U.S. Release Date: November 25, 2009
Director: John Hillcoat
Screen writers: Joe Penhall (from the novel by Cormac McCarthy)
Running Time: 112 minutes