ROTTEN TOMATOES: Charlize Theron Joins The Road's Gang

Charlize Theron Joins The Road's Gang

Will star alongside Mortensen in adaptation of Pulitzer-winning McCarthy novel.

by Jeff Giles | January 16, 2008

The Coen brothers' adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men has been a mainstay on critics' year-end best-of lists -- but that film's success was only part of an incredible 2007 for McCarthy.

Critics have long loved McCarthy's novels, but his most recent work won the 2007 Pulitzer for fiction -- and that book, the post-apocalyptic The Road, will follow No Country for Old Men into theaters. A suitably brief synopsis, courtesy of Variety: Story centers on a man who embarks on a nightmarish road trip after a nuclear explosion in an attempt to transport his son to safety while fending off cannibals.

Though no release date has been announced, The Road is coming together behind the scenes; the picture, being made by 2929 Entertainment and distributed by Dimension, will be directed by John Hillcoat from a Joe Penhall script, and Viggo Mortensen is attached to star.

Now, reports Variety, Charlize Theron has signed on to play Mortensen's wife. Though it's a small role -- her character is "seen mostly in flashback" -- Theron is a fan of the book, and was also apparently eager to reunite with Nick Wechsler, who produced her 2000 release, The Yards.

Source: Variety

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(1-14 of 14 posts) | Reply

jacog writes:
on Jan 16 2008 06:52 AM

A fan of the book, she says. I bet she's never read it. Whenever there's an adaptation of anything... someone always claims to be a big fan of the source material. Call me a cynic if you want. Hell, you can call me Susan, I don't care.

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whiskeyriver writes:
on Jan 16 2008 06:58 AM

Sounds OK to me. She's shown she can play both an angry and vicious woman and a sympathetic and put upon woman, and this character is both. She's angry at what the world's become and viciously lashes out at Man. But she also is a very sympathetic and sad and fragile person. Theron wasn't who I pictured as the wife (whereas Viggo was EXACTLY who I pictured as Man). But that's OK. I have no doubt Hillcoat and Pennhall will do an amazing job at translating the bleak, harrowing landscape for the screen.

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rustdog writes:
on Jan 16 2008 07:15 AM

She'll be onscreen for less than 5 minutes. I hope they follow the book exactly as its written. I don't want some fluff Hollywood ending. This should be the most depressingly brillant movie ever -- like watching Requiem For A Dream on downers after you just buried your best friend.

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whiskeyriver writes:
on Jan 16 2008 07:29 AM

In reply to this comment (#1475331)
Yeah, agreed rustdog. If she is on screen for any more than 10 minutes, I will have serious problems.

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rustdog writes:
on Jan 16 2008 07:54 AM

Whomever they get to the play the kid will make or brake this movie. If it's Freddie Highmore, I won't even watch it. They better do some serious searching for a beatific kid with some acting skills.

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dahluzz writes:
on Jan 16 2008 10:55 AM

Hillcoat's a great choice for this. I thought 'the proposition' was solid and the Australian outback he depicted (maybe because of road warrior), hinted at a post-apocalyptic setting, despite taking place in the 19th century. The atmosphere was desolate and earily quiet until a sudden shocking event would rock you out of your comfort zone. He knows how to use violence to effect and seems happy to do so.

Mortensen is another strong choice. This role should set in stone his place among today's top actors.

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ManofStee1 writes:
on Jan 16 2008 10:56 AM

This book has little potential to be a good movie if they follow it closely. They'll need to make some majors changes to the plot or it will be agonizingly slow.

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FCBarcelona writes:
on Jan 16 2008 11:33 AM

I agree with ManofStee1. I don't know about you guys, but I read the book a few weeks ago after I read Into Thin Air (another great book), and some of the page-turning I did was to find out what happens next (or better put, if anything happens next). The book was very well-written, and has its poignant moments, but there really is no action. I'm not looking for a shootout with automatic weapons, but literally all of the action is them looking for food.

I'm not sure how they are going to do a soundtrack either, but everything is desolate silence. Sure, it worked for Cast Away because Tom was on a beautiful beach, but a road-movie with no animal noise, music, anything from the environment? It's gonna be strange considering that there isn't much dialogue except for the kid asking a ton of questions.

I just hope that this isn't gonna be a slooooooooooooooooooow movie where nothing really happens.

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harrismonkey writes:
on Jan 16 2008 01:22 PM

Concerns shared.

I did like the book. But if it's faithful to the book, this seems like an arthouse movie with very limited appeal (of course that's exactly what the propositon was). There is a stretch in the middle of the book that is extremely exciting, frightening and suspenseful- but the later parts are more melancholy than anything else.

I'm also curious if they'll skip the ash that covers EVERYTHING in the book, or spend a chunk of change adding it to everything (either as a visual effect, or literally covering everything in ash). You coukd skip it, but it's such presence it's almost a character in the book. The whole point is that EVERYTHING is dead.

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BowieSwimmer writes:
on Jan 16 2008 04:49 PM

I'm a huge McCarthy fan, and The Road is one of my favorite books of his [only I'm outraged Oprah slapped her big book club sticker on the front. Long story.]
...but I'm concerned about this film adaptation. While there are certainly incredibly suspenseful, gripping, emotional, exhilarating scenes in the novel, they are usually few and far between. The book is a character study more than a apocalyptic thriller.
Most of the book simply deals with a father and son, making down the road, struggling to survive.

Mortensen is an excellent choice, but this film probably will not cross over to the [moderate] box office success that No Country has seen. Theron has an extreme small part, so while I admire her acting [for the most part], she really doesn't make a difference. It all hinges on who plays the kid...and it cannot be some weird, cutesy little boy version of Abigail Breslin. Don't get me wrong, that girl pushes Little Miss Sunshine to a new level, but we need someone more somber. I hope they find some fresh talent.
If they change the ending, I will cry out of sheer rage; its the best part of the book.

This has some serious potential, as long as its handled very carefully!
And check out The Proposition, it was completely overlooked last year, and deserves a good watch.

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Bowles writes:
on Jan 16 2008 09:30 PM

I actually wouldn't mind if they do a bit more flashback stuff, just to put some action in the dull parts. I think this can be a great movie - they just need to emphasize the action parts (like where they find the prisoners... terrifying). I don't know how they'll do parts... if they'll have to utilize narration because of the lack of dialogue or what. But I didn't know about Mortensen until now, and I'm really excited.

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burlingr writes:
on Jan 17 2008 12:54 AM

The little boy from There Will Be Blood would be absolutely fantastic as the boy... to keep the fire alive... i absolutely loved this book, and wet dreamed when I found out Viggos playing the father... I just hope Buscemi is playing the man they strip naked at the end (haha (?))

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hennia writes:
on Feb 03 2008 02:53 PM

In reply to this comment (#1480451)
Dude that is exactly what I was thinking, the kid from There Will Be Blood is the only one I can think of who would do justice to that role.

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Ericdude8299 writes:
on Mar 04 2008 03:59 AM

In reply to this comment (#1480451)
That would be brilliant. I could see Buscemi doing that or John Hurt. There are several really small parts with people they encounter along their way on the road and all of them will have to be played by good actors

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