Movie Review: The Rover

David Michod (Animal Kingdom) paints a bleak and desolate future in this new Australian road movie, The Rover.


The film opens in Australia "10 years after the collapse".  That is the only thing we're given in the set-up to the world of the movie.  There are hints throughout that it is some sort of economic collapse that has left Australia in kind of a shambles.  The plot then kind of takes a back seat, as the film focuses more on character.  The first scene introduces Eric (inexplicably named in the credits when he pretty much goes out of his way to remain nameless throughout the movie), played by Guy Pearce (Memento).  He looks like a man who has seen too much after this "collapse" and has lost everything, including any sort of hope, and become a bit of a drifter, oblivious to everything.  Sitting on a bar stool he is even oblivious to the car wrecking down the road right outside the window.  Three criminals are in a hurry to escape after whatever it is they did (I'm not sure it was made clear, but they were in a hurry).  They get their car stuck and steal Eric's car.  This finally catches Eric's attention and he runs out and gets their car unstuck to go after them.  In trying to figure out where they went, he runs into Rey (Robert Pattinson, Cosmopolis) who is the brother of one of the criminals played by Scoot McNairy (Monsters).  He was left for dead on the side of the road by the others.  From there the film follows Eric using Rey to track down the others to get his car back.  And you learn, never steal a car from Guy Pearce.


The real driving force of this road movie (pardon the pun), is the acting of the two leads.  It is much more about character than plot.  Guy Pearce does an excellent job of doing most of the heavy lifting here.  He is a man of few words, but that is good.  His actions speak loud enough.  In this desolate landscape that has been built, he's not afraid to outright kill to get that car back.  However, I felt that this was a result of the change in the world around him.  It was easy to get away with anything, including murder.  The country is in shambles and there is very little in way of police or military force that care.  Underneath it though, he seems like a man who doesn't want to do any of this.  He just wants to be left alone in peace.  This comes through in one of the final scenes when he gets this look of defeat on his face like he doesn't know what the point of any of it is anymore.  You really want to know the entire time what could possibly be in this car that would make him do all this.  It's either going to work for you, or simply not.  It ultimately isn't even about this at all, but more about his character's journey and development.  In this sense, it worked for me.


In a surprising turn of events, I set my prejudice for the Twilight movies aside and came to realize that Robert Pattinson actually has some acting chops.  He's the injured brother who was left behind.  His brother and him are from America and have a southern accent.  It doesn't seem like he is supposed to be full on mentally handicapped, but he is a bit dim-witted.  He seems a little slow, and has this little nervous tick.  He's a character that seems torn throughout loyalty-wise.  He wants to believe there is a reason that his brother didn't come back for him, but Guy Pearce takes advantage of his slowness to slowly convince him that his brother is simply a bad man that left him to die.  He gradually turns from reluctant helper at gunpoint to a willing helper by the end.  He's more just scared than anything else and I think Pattinson does an excellent job with all of these conflicting emotions.


Another major character in the film was Australia itself.  The cinematography is great in this film.  It's got a real dusty, dirty, beat down look to it.  The buildings are all run down.  The people all hide behind closed doors and all have guns to protect their stuff.  It seems like all things are a rare commodity in this almost non-economy.  The score of the film is also just as jarring as the landscape and some of the outbursts of intense gun violence in the film.


One problem I had with the film was the pacing.  Michod took a real minimalist approach to this film, and that included the slow, deliberate pacing.  I understand and appreciate this approach, but it simply didn't work for me.  Sometimes the film would just slow down too much and I'd start to get a little bored.


This film is definitely not for everyone.  The plot is minimalist and there are some scenes of pretty intense shootings.  The slow pacing is what ultimately brings it down a notch or two for me.  However, the film is very well shot and nice to look at and the two lead performances are great.  With the things it had going for it, I really wanted to like it more than I actually did.  I would still recommend it if you are getting burnt out on the summer Hollywood blockbusters and want a change of pace though.


Rating: ******---- (6 out of 10)


Memorable Quote:
Rey: Should I shoot him again, just to make sure?