The Road not Taken: The Road film critique.

I attempted to dissect both film and novel to draw comparisons and critique the film adaptation of The Road. Armed with pen and paper in a dark movie theater, I was able to take notes of 80 plus scenes in the film. Several notable scenes were nitpicked to emulate the mise-en-scene technique of film analysis.

After this step, I read along with the novel, reminiscing the story-boarding, and structure of the film and determining if it was a) accurate b) faithful, and c) successful. 

The final product of my efforts was a critical analysis of the film. Although biased, having read the novel did not keep me from addressing the unsuspecting audience perspective. 

I reached the conclusion that the film did not follow McCarthy's road at times, resembling more of a serpentine zig zag that intersected with the novel at times, rather than  parallel roads. Despite the deviation, the film took no risks and tried to be too cautious with the narrative. This obsession, brought forth the omission of many important details. 

It sought meaning, and never found it or accentuated it. To me, no film is intentionally vague and it came off as that. I was confused as to what meaning the film wanted to evoke, because it was lacking, considering it is a novel full of meaning for everyone to feast on.

 It is still a faithful film, but it was devoid of groundbreaking techniques and cinematography that could have set it apart. The novel granted this opportunity to the film, but it is forgettable. Looking at the bright side, as we should with the novel, I thought it was a fair, average adaptation, that had several highlights. Let's hope for a outstanding adaptation decades from now.