Movie vs Book

     Having both read the book and watched the movie "The Road," I can now analyze the similarities and differences between McCarthy's (the author) and John Hillcoat's (the director) decisions. Even if it isn't always just like the book, I enjoyed the movie despite its unsettling nature. Surprisingly, the movie went by really fast much like the book did, which I didn't expect. However, I think I was more invested since it was very accurate and I knew where in the book each part of the movie was.

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Similarities:

    Right away, I was shocked by how accurate the dialogue was in the movie so I could easily pinpoint each event from the book. The movie also did a good job at reflecting the simplicity of the dialogue between the man and the boy. Both the movie and book rely heavily on this dialogue to portray the relationship between the man and the boy and follow the plot as they travel. 

    In the movie, Hillcoat does a great job at making these conversations between the two characters a crucial piece to the morality of the story. The boy is always the one making sure that they are still the "good guys" and carrying "the fire" within. The movie is able to show how the boy is always trying to convince the man to help the people they come across on the road. Both of their emotions are portrayed perfectly in the movie, such as when they are arguing about leaving the thief behind and taking his clothes (the only thing he possessed).

    Another part of the book that the movie did well was how burnt up and empty the world is at this point in time. The world looked just as dead as I pictured it while reading the book, which helped the storyline develop. There was no direct sunlight because it was hidden under clouds and ash in the air. The movie almost appears to be black and white at first glance, which shows how Hillcoat did such a great job capturing the bleakness of it all.

    Both the book and the movie do an excellent job of highlighting how sad the story is. Even having already read the book, when I was watching the movie I still felt emotional at certain parts even if I knew they were coming. Such as when the man nearly shot his son to save him from suffering a terrible death, or when the man died at the end.

    That's another aspect of the movie that was similar to the book: the importance of saving his son to the best of the man's ability. He saved his son not just by keeping him alive as long as possible, but also by being willing to shoot him with their last bullet remaining to save him from suffering horribly if he were caught and eaten/tortured by the "bad guys."

    It's a very emotional scene when the man is holding the gun to the boy's head while they hide from the "bad guys," waiting to see if he needs to pull the trigger to save his boy. The terror in the boy's eyes was reflected well in the movie, along with the father's hesitation since it seems like a crime to kill such an innocent angel, who doesn't deserve to live in such a horrific world.

Differences:

    Unlike several other movies that have been made based on novels, "The Road" is one of the most accurate ones I have seen. Therefore, most of the little differences between the book and the novel aren't very important and the overall meaning and plot of the book remain the same. Many are interpretation differences that are mostly insignificant. There is only one change that I think could have been a little more meaningful had it been done like the book.

    This change would be where the boy met the new man after his father died. In the movie, he met him on the beach three days after his father's death, rather than on the road when he finally left his father's side in the book. I like the version where he meets him on the road since it circles back to what the road symbolizes. Especially since everything that happens to them on the road evolves their character.

    It isn't a very significant change, but since the road represents perseverance it would make more sense for the story to end on the road rather than the beach (like the movie did).

    In addition to meeting the man on the beach, the father also died on the beach rather than in the woods like the book. Again, this isn't a major change but I think I prefer the way the movie did it instead of the book for this part. The beach seems more peaceful of a resting place than the woods, even if the sea is no longer blue, the burnt-up woods wouldn't have been any better. It's also meaningful since they had finally reached the coast, which was their initial goal throughout the novel.

    Another difference between the movie and the book was made as a way to integrate the flashbacks more naturally into the movie. In the book, they were scattered toward the beginning to give some backstory of the boy's and the man's trauma. However, in the movie, the flashbacks of the women are really the man's dreams. This change makes the story less choppy so we learn this backstory without interrupting the present day. We still learn mostly the same information in a more natural way, so I agree with this interpretation of it in the movie.

    One thing that was excluded from the movie was when the man was exploring the boat in the ocean. It shows him swimming to it, but not his actual findings. I wish they had added the scene with the flare gun and the boy since it was actually a heartwarming moment. The boy was excited about it and they shot it at night "to celebrate" what he found on the boat for them to use. But in the movie, the man has the gun but it isn't highlighted/important since the thief came while the man was on the ship so he's distracted by that when he reaches the shore.

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    Overall, the movie was very accurate compared to the book, which made both works meaningful. On second thought, I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" it since it's not my type of movie and it is very dark, but I respect the amount of effort that went into it in order to keep McCarthy's and Hillcoat's styles similar. I would recommend either one to anyone who knows what they are getting themselves into.