Rotten Tomatoes Ratings/Reviews * * IMDB Ratings/Reviews
- My Review: Uneven Road but Worthwhile by Laurie Mann, November 25, 2009 (8 out of 10)
- The Film Experience: The Road by Nathaniel Rogers, June 26, 2010 (B+)
- Basement Tapes: Towards Love: Another Vision of The Road, by Mark Mordue, February 18, 2010 (gushing)
- Bowdoin Orient: Hillcoat's The Road proves to be cinematic dead end, by Bryant Johnson, January 29, 2010 (very negative)
- InTheNews.co.uk: The Road, by Lewis Bazley, January 8, 2010 (9 out of 10)
- Cinefantastique: The Road, by Peg Aloi, December 29, 2009 (very positive)
- Independent: A Film That Every One of Us Needs to See by Mark Lynas (Rave), December 16, 2009
- GoErie: The Road Turns Out to Be One of the Best Movies of the Year, by M. V. Moorhead, November 26, 2009 (extremely positive)
- Pittsburgh City Paper: The Road: Cormac McCarthy's Novel Finally Lands on the Big Screen by Chris Potter, November 25, 2009 (3 out of 4 stars)
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Post-apocalyptic film The Road worth the pain by Barbara Vancheri, November 25, 2009 (3 out of 4 stars)
- Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Road Doesn't Do Justice to McCarthy's Novel by Michael Machosky, November 25, 2009 (generally negative)
- NPR (Fresh Air): Review by David Edelstein, November 25, 2008 (positive)
- LA Times: Review by Kenneth Turan, November 25, 2009 (mixed negative)
- New York Times: Father and Son Bond in the Gloomy Aftermath of the Apocalypse by A. O. Scott, November 25, 2009 (mixed slightly positive)
- Kansas City Star: Review by Robert Butler, November 25, 2009 (4 stars, very positive)
- Minneapolis Star Tribune: The Road by Colin Covert (4 stars - very positive)
- McClatchy Papers: The Road by Christopher Kelly, November 25, 2009 (1 star - very negative)
- Daemon's Movies: The Road, November 25, 2009 (positive)
- AP: The Road Strives but leads nowhere, by Jake Coyle, November 23, 2009 (generally negative)
- Rolling Stone: Review not online yet, but Peter Travers gave it 3.4 out of 4 stars
- Bucks Local News Post-Apocalypic Thriller The Road Is Gripping, Intimate, by R. Kurt Osenlund, November 22, 2009 (4 out of 5 stars)
- PopMatters: Hitting The Road with Director John Hillcoat, by Matt Mazur November 22, 2009
- Clothes on Film: The Road, by Chris Laverty, November 19, 2009 (positive)
- Film Crusade: Survive and Advance by Zach Copeland, November 13, 2009 (very positive)
- Music Remedy: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Review of the Soundtrack, November 2009
- Movie Moron: The Road, B+, October 24, 2009
- CHUD: The Road by David Faraci, 6 out of 10, October 22, 2009
- Cinema Blend: The Road, by Josh Tyler, 3.5 out of 4 stars, October 20, 2009
- The Film Blogger: The Road, 4.5 out of 5 stars, October 19, 2009
- Wired: The Road, by Stephen Parkinson, generally positive, October 18, 2009
- Chicago Sun-Times: The Road by Roger Ebert, 2.5 stars out of 4, October 14, 2009 -- re-review changed review to 3 1/2 out of 4 stars, November 24
- Arizona Reporter: The Road by Harvey Karten, Grade B, October 12, 2009
- Screen Rant: The Road Review by Kofi Outlaw, 4.5 stars of 5
- The Australian: This is no country for the faint-hearted, by David Stratton, September 9, 2009 (favorable)
Film Festival Reviews
London Film Festival
- The Road, by Jez Sands. October 28, 2009, 5 out of 5 stars
- Screen Crave: London Film Festival: The Road Press Conference - Staying True to the Book, October 19. 2009
Toronto Film Festival
- Indiewire.com: 34 Films, Ranked A to F, September 19, 2009 (B)
- ComingSoon.Net: Toronto Film Festival, Day 3 Recap, by Edward Douglas, September 18, 2009 (very positive)
- Fangoria: The Road, by Linda Marotta, September 16, 2009 (3.5 out of 4)
- JoeBlo.com: TIFF: The Road by Chris Bumray, September 16, 2009 (8.5 out of 10)
- CTV.ca: Hard road to TIFF for Viggo Mortensen and kid co-star by Constance Droganes, September 14, 2009 (very positive review)
- The Film Stage: Up in the Air, Vahalla Rising, The Road September 14, 2009 (positive)
- Screen Rant: TIFF Must See Films: Get Low, Precious and The Road by John Foote, September 14, 2009 (very positive)
- Hollywood and Fine: TIFF and The Road by Marshall Fine, September 14, 2009 (very positive)
- Quiet Earth: TIFF 08: We got what you've all been waiting for ... Review of The Road by Rick McGrath, September 13, 2009 (10 out of 10)
- TimeOut Chicago: TIFF, Day four: The Road, George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead, by Ben Kenigsberg, September 13, 2009 (mixed to negative)
- Moviehole: At Toronto Film Festival, by Paul Fischer, September 13, 2009 (mostly positive)
- Worst Previews: The Best Movies to Come from the Toronto Film Festival, September 13, 2009 (very positive)
Telluride Film Festival
- Blogcritics: The Loooonnng and Winding Road Out of Telluride by Michael Bialas, September 11, 2009 (generally negative)
- Cinematical: Review, by Eugene Novikov, September 8, 2009 (a rave review!)
- Ain't It Cool News: Review by Quint, September 8, 2009 (positive)
- IndieWire: A Long and Dreary Path: John Hillcoat's The Road by Eric Kohn, September 8, 2009 (generally positive)
- Huffington Post: Telluride Report: Nic Cage Gets Wack with Crack in Bad Lieutenant; Viggo Hits the Road..., by Chris Willman, September 7, 2009 (very favorable)
- First Showing: Review, by Alex Billington, September 7, 2009 (8 out of 10)
- LATimes: The Envelope: Telluride Film Festival: The Road Looks to Get Back on Track, September 6, 2009
- In Contention: Short Take: The Road, by Kristopher Tapley, September 3, 2009 (2 1/2 out of 4 stars)
Venice Film Festival
- Financial Times: The Venice Film Festival by Nigel Andrews, September 11, 2009 (mixed, see commentary on the festival awards)
- New York Times: At Venice Film Festival, Bleakness and a Comic Edge, by Roderick Conway Morris, September 4, 2009
- Cleveland Examiner: The Road Looks Bright!, by Andrew Louis Marnik, September 4, 2009
- The First Post: Oscar Talk for Cormac MCarthy's "The Road", by Sophie Taylor, September 4, 2009
- The Age: The Road at Venice Film Festival, by Wendy Ide, September 3, 2009 (4 out of 5 stars)
- The Hollywood Reporter: Review, by Deborah Young, September 3, 2009 (very positive - slight variant of her article at Reuters ("Road" Unwinds with Bleak Intensity)
- The Guardian: The superb adaptation of The Road takes us on a bleak journey, by Xan Brooks, September 3, 2009 (4 out of 5 stars)
- Box Office: Cormac McCarthy's apocalyptic vision receives a successful film translation, by Pete Hammond, September 3, 2009 (4 out of 5 stars)
- The Independent: Bleak but moving tale of the apocalypse, by Geoffrey MacNab, September 3, 2009 (4 out of 5 stars; Venice wrap-up article)
- The London Evening Standard: Apocalyptic Horror for Arthouse in The Road, by Lee Marshall, September 3, 2009 (3 out of 5 stars)
- In Contention: Venice: "The Road," "Life During Wartime," "Great Directors" by Guy Lodge, September 3, 2009 (2 1/2 out of 4 stars)
- TimeOut: London: Review, by David Jenkins, September 3, 2009 (3 out of 5 stars)
- Screen Daily.com: Review, by Fionnuala Halligan, September 3, 2009 (very positive)
- Variety: Review, by Todd McCarthy, September 3, 2009 (very negative)
Test Screening Comments
February '09 Test Screening
The movie had test screenings in New York City in February 2009. The film was mostly finished and included Nick Cave's score.
Ain't It Cool's Viper X Review
October '08 Test Screening
The movie had a test screening in New York City on October 15. The sound, music, and some of the visuals were incomplete. Some of the people who saw the movie had read the book, but at least one had not. These are not formal reviews of a finished film, but are informal comments posted to various message boards on movie that has not been polished yet.
- Filmmaker: Visiting John Hillcoat's The Road, Fall 2008 (likely commenting on the rough cut that was testedin October 2008)
- JoBlo reader
- Funvampires
- New York Magazine's Vulture - Entertainment and Culture Blog - Lucky intern posts comments
- IMDB message board poster 1
- IMDB message board poster 2
- CHUD message board poster 1
- Ain't It Cool News message board poster 1
Commentary
August 2009, as during late summer 2008, The Road is again showing up on many people's lists of "One of the movies I'm looking most forward to this fall." Since we did a round of that late last summer, just check this list below because many of the same people are making the same comments all over again. Unlike last fall, more post-apocalyptic movie are due out this fall (the animated feature 9 was quite interesting, while 2012 looks like a big video game).
- Hot Air: Two Kinds of Apocalypse by Dr. Zero, July 13, 2010 (good compare/contrast of The Road and The Book of Eli)
- Herald Sun: The demise of childhood by Susie O'Brien, February 16, 2010
- InTheNews.co.uk: Predicatably good Oscar nominations by Lewis Bazley, February 2, 2010
- InTheNews.co.uk: Bafta noms reveal The Road less enjoyed by Lewis Bazley, January 21, 2010
- KansasCity.com: Misleading Trailer for The Road Actually May be a Good Thing, November 25, 2009
- Movie City News: 18 Weeks to Oscar, November 2009
- The Wrap: Oscar Verdicts: Precious, The Road, More, by Steve Pond, November 6, 2009
- CanadaEast: Charlize Theron Among Stars Not Shying Away from Gloomy Material in Bad Economic Times, October 15, 2009
- New York Magazine: Amazing But True: There's Product Placement in The Road, September 15, 2009
- New York Post: Oscar Watch: End of 'The Road', September 13, 2009
- Los Angeles Times: Put The Road Back on Your Oscar Contender Ballot, September 10, 2009
- NOW Magazine (Toronto): Movies for the 10 Types of TIFFsters, August 2009
- AfterElton.com It's the End of the World as We Know It by Brent Hartinger (amusing satires on post-apocalyptic movies), March 5, 2009
- RopesofSilicon.com: Where in the World is The Road, March 4, 2009
- Film Experience Blog: We Can't Wait to See The Road, February 7, 2009
- Africa Business Daily: In Hollywood, bleak is chic and hopelessness is hot, December 4, 2008
- MSNBC - Test Pattern: Detour for this Dreary Road, October 28, 2008
- CHUD: Slow-Motion Quick-Draw 24 - The Road by Jon Abrams, September 19, 2008
- RushPRNews: The Road Is Not the Yellow Brick - suggesting similarities between The Road and global warming (without an asteroid or similar abrupt cataclysm), September 11, 2008
- WorstPreviews The Road, September 8, 2008
- Entertainment Weekly: Fall Movies, 28 Preseason Awards - The Road is runner-up (runner-up??) for "Biggest Downer" Late August, 2008
- Movie City News: 30 weeks to Oscar, August 1, 2008
- Reporting Accuracy, March 6, 2008
- Rope Of Silicon: The Shallow End: All Over the Road, February 27, 2008
- My The Road Locations Proposal, February 4, 2008
- Cormac McCarthy's Apocalypse, December 27, 2007
- Brett Ratner's Notes for His Film Version of The Road by Cormac McCarthy by Wendy Molyneaux, August 2007 (McSweeney's); hysterically-funny look about "Hollywoodizing" the movie version of The Road
- "The Route and Roots of The Road" - an interesting scholarly paper proposing where in the South McCarthy set the book, 2007
- Map of Cormac McCarthy's The Road
- The Frist Post: Cormac McCarthy: One More for The Road, May 30, 2007
- New York Times Review of Books: After the Apocalypse by Michael Chabon (the review was revised and appears in Chabon's recent book of essays, Maps and Legends as "Dark Adventure: On Cormac McCarthy's The Road")