sounds amazing, have read the book a couple times n once i start i cannot stop, an absolutely stunning master piece n i expect the movie to be just as good---we need a few more pa movies

You said:
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One added scene has "The Man" taking "The Boy" to the house he grew up in. My guess is that it has been added to hit home the idea of "what we've lost" but again, something about it seemed a tad extraneous.
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However, that scene is in the book!

Whoops. That scene must have just slipped my mind... Although perhaps my forgetting it only proves my point about how "extraneous" it is.

Great that you were able to see the script! I'm glad they've stuck so close to the book. Almost everything I've been able to learn that was filmed was almost straight out of the book (though "extra tension" may have been added to the bunker scene...*groan*).

I always liked the scene where Father shows the Boy his childhood home. It was one of the quieter scenes in that part of the book.

Wow! you've hyped yourself way up, I foresee tremendous disappointment. LOL. I knew the filmmakers would stay true to the spirit of the book, it's being directed by John Hillcoat an independent minded Australian, not some Hollywood factory-filmmaker

Thanks for the report and what a score getting the sceenplay. The movie should be a real shocker to the mainstream in November when the movie is realesed considering the realism that is portrayed in this post-apoclayptic book.

I picked up The Road after reading a snippet in the NY Times. No surprise to anyone here, but I couldn't put it down. What shocked me was how deeply emotionally invested I became in the father and son. Without trying--and despite my repeated efforts to refrain from doing so--I constantly saw myself in place of the Man and my elder son in place of the Boy. It was the only book that ever made me openly weep when I finished. Without trying to be overly dramatic, for me it was surprisingly the most explicit, visceral articulation of the love I have for my children. It was simultaneously brutal and delicately beautiful. I'm sure that may sound strange, but I can offer only this further explanation: When I suggest the book to people, I say, "If you are a father of sons, then you'll *get* it." (--Not to say that you must be a father to enjoy or be moved by the story)

I have been eagerly (and fearfully) anticipating this movie since I first heard the rumors about its pending production. I say "fearfully" because I know that based on how the book affected me, watching the movie will be a draining, almost painful experience, but one that I still will not be able to resist.

I stumbled upon your review from the io9 blog on the Gawker network, and I am hoping you will release more details in the near future. Based on what you've already revealed, I am thankful that the "sense" of the book has been faithfully rendered.

Even if you post no more on this, I want to thank you for the powerful sustenance you've already provided to those who, like me, are becoming increasingly (and at times, involuntarily) drawn into scouring the net for info on the movie. My hope is that I've helped convince you how appreciated further postings would be, and that you would accede to do so.

Just reading that little snippet about the boy's bad dream and thinking about how that could look actually brought a tear to my eye. I'm so glad it's John Hillcoat doing the adaptation of such an incredible book.

This is one time that I think actually "seeing" the story will enhance the dramatic experience of the work. That scene you mention Insurrention, will be made even more emotional due to the fact that this kid is on the verge of starvation and sleeping in dirty snow with no hope of ever knowing anything but harsh times. The setting and situation will heighten everything.

Definitely the hardest novel I have ever read, full of scenes you want to forget, but will never be able to. I've never been affected by a book like this, and I think it's specifically because I'm a dad. I think any father that reads this book (or watches the movie) will be unable to separate himself from The Man. The scene that affected me most, that I read over and over and over, was the "campfire" scene, that's going to be a hard one to see in theaters, but I'll definitely be there.

Wow. Extraordinary, powerful stuff. From what you've shown us, the script does seem very true to the novel. With that hurdle out of the way, all that is left now is the acting. If Viggo and the boy do well in conveying the depth of their love, this film will be a masterpiece.

Thanks for the updates! Please keep them coming.

I've wondered for months if my favorite lines from the book will be included in the film (as v.o.): "the breathe of God..." and the final paragraph of the book.

It's been nearly ten months since I've read the book and the final paragraph continues to haunt me.

I was one set for three days in Pennsylvania. I was called in to try out for the "Man in the basement" role as I am an amputee but was eventually cast as one of the gang members on the truck.

As a huge fan of CM and of the Road, to find that Hillcoat was directing it from the casting agent blew my mind. A fan of Ghosts of the Civil Undead with Nick Cave in the late 1980s and The Proposition, it seemed like a great fit.

The set was cold and wet and bleak, on an abandoned stretch of interstate near a tunnel. Viggo was great and Hillcoat was too. He was a very kind person talking with me about my handicap and what I would be able to do in the scene, even if it might eventually end up on the cutting room floor. The real deal however is Kodi Smit-McPhee. He is so grounded and in the moment and I can only think that it is a reflection of his upbringing by his parents. I spent most of my downtime on the set with his father. A giant of a man who is a credible character actor in Australia, Andy seemed to really keep Kodi in the present yet allowed him to step directly up to the edge of the emotion needed for this part. From the little time I was there, it certainly seemd as though Viggo and Kodi had an incredible bond and that is what will carry this movie.

I feel very blessed to have been cast and to have had this amazing experience. Thank you for offering a forum that can let me express this gratitude.

Michael

I agree with everything said and am eager to see the film, but I am not so sure that The Road is CM's "masterpiece". I have a hunch that he would say it was a timely idea that formed naturally into a highly readable and simple, although meaningful, novel. I'd like to hear his thoughts on that, whether he invested as much of himself in the Road as his great works like Blood Meridian. At any rate, I don't have much of my own emotion invested in the film adaptation. The book itself won't cease to be a powerful story that creeps into my mind at least once a week. I have talked to a couple people about why this story is so profound to so many people. For myself, it is the Father's strength that resonated deeply- my own Father had passed away just a few months before I read it, and the book evoked everything that made him a mythical, heroic figure in my life. I even imagined them to be the same person as I read- my dad's vietnam experience superimposed onto the backstory of the book to explain his resourceful nature in a horrible and barren world. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the same from other people, men and women, whose father's devotion seems infinite to a child, but is only appreciated later when we see that they are just mortals like us. Anyone else? Why was the Road so moving? As for the movie, I'll watch it just to see how the story is treated visually, but it won't change the movie in my mind.

I found this from McCarthy: "I like to think it's just about the boy and the man on the road, but obviously you can draw conclusions about all sorts of things from reading the book, depending on your taste," McCarthy said on the talk show. Tellingly, the 75-year-old author dedicated the book to his elementary-school-age son, John.

"and takes out his revolver, opens the magazine and shows him there are two bullets left."

Can't wait to see how they pull this off.
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Hopefully this movie finds some respeck in a Beverly Hills Chihuahua world.

agentorange - have you been following any of the discussion over at CHUD or IMDB by people who were apparently part of a teest screening audience last night? I've linked to both discussions from my site; can you lend any comments on what they saw based on what you said was in the script? It almost sounds like what you read and what some of the test-screeners saw was relatively different.

agentorange - Never mind. Turns out there's been one negative review of last night's test screening, but most of the comments I've seen have been positive. So it was just one test screener who didn't get it.

I confess to being worried about the movie, the book is so perfect that I don't know if it can be brought to the screen without diminishing it. The review, excerpts and information i have seen make me think the adaptation will be sympathetic and closely follow the original but i have seen too many movies where hollywood have taken a classic story and just couldn't stop themselves from changing it to meet the lowest common denominator. If the ending of Charlie and the chocolate factory wasn't upbeat enough what the hell might the studio do to the road?

as a single mom to a 7 year old boy, i was completely moved by this book. i completely relate to The Man. i finished it last night and was both breathless and had terrible heartache. i hope the film lives up to the book.

It would be so nice if writers could be bothered to do a bit of research. For example:


"... takes out his revolver, opens the magazine ..."

Wow, this must be a really special sci-fi revolver, since it has a "magazine" instead of a cylinder, like every other revolver on the planet.

Or is it just suffering from an identity crisis? Because further down the page there's this:

"He helps cock the pistol and curls the boy's thin index finger around the trigger."

Yes, pistols come with magazines, so this is just a pistol that wishes it was a revolver, only it isn't, because in the trailer it is a revolver. Oh, dear. Somebody couldn't be bothered to read a dictionary. Whoever wrote this script should be shot, maybe that way they'll learn the difference between the two weapons.

SoFar,

McCarthy might actually know more about sidearms than you do. The definition of a pistol is a firearm thats designed to be fired single handed.

Todays most common pistol design are semi-automatic pistols, typically sporting a detachable magazine inside the grip, and revolving pistols, with a non-detachable cylinder magazine. The later is commonly reffered to as a revolver, but that does not change the fact that it is also a pistol, a firearm and a weapon.

watched the movie....twice. had to see it again to get the full effect. the only hard part was trying to figure out where the plot points were.