NMR: The Road

I initially had high hopes for this film when I first learned about it. However, my anticipation for it waned with every delayed release to the point. Even with my low expectations, this one still managed to underwhelm me. On a positive note, the cinematography depicting a post-apocalyptic world is impressive. Nothing else really works here. The story doesn't feel orignial and also feels underdeveloped. This is most likely due to it being an adapatation of a popular novel (by author Cormac McCarthy). There were many points where I felt the book most likely developed the characters better to make you care about them. Here, I never felt a vested interest in whether the man (played by Viggo Mortensen) and his son survived their perilous situation. Perhaps worst of all is the film's attempt to bludgeon its themes over our head. We didn't need multiple scenes involving the son asking his father if they were still the 'good guys' to tell us that armageddon causes people to develop shades of grey personalities. This really deserves only about two and half stars, but since Netflix doesn't offer that option, I'll be kind and say Rating: ***