A disheveled loner (Guy Pearce) trails a trio of thieves who stole his car. Along the way he picks up the slow-witted brother (Robert Pattinson) of one of the thieves. Dystopian future or post-apocalyptic movies kind of blend together after you've seen a lot of them. So when one comes along that feels fresh like this one, it deserves praise for that alone. The acting is excellent. Guy Pearce has long been an actor whose work I enjoy but the big surprise here is Robert Pattinson, who ensures with this performance that he will be remembered for more than the Twilight movies. Taut direction with quality acting, writing, and music. It's a good movie but not for everybody. Dark, gritty, often slow and certainly violent. But it's also very rewarding if you're wiling to give it a chance.
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utgard1416 November 2014
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The Rover is an anti-blockbuster mainly because of its rhythm : it is very slow, therefore preventing many people to stick to it while watching it.
What you get here is not some amusement but rather gives material to think. We're not escaping from existence, like with e.g. Gravity, Hunger Games or whatever acclaimed propaganda. And it is quite disturbing as the more we go on watching the movie, the more we confront with some reflections about our time : there's no more gods, no more laws and we're getting increasingly isolated. Just the gruesome reality. People are striving to survive and protect what is theirs (always material things), though remains some hints of optimism - and Pattinson is playing quite well on this regard. -
bowmanblue7 January 2015'The Rover' is one of many 'post apocalyptic' films, offering us its vision of 'life after society.' This time they don't bother adding zombies to the bleakness, choosing instead to do something dark, gritty and hopefully realistic (think 'The Road' if you've seen that).
We're introduced to Australia, a few years after 'the collapse' (whatever that might be). Either way, it's left people basically to fend for themselves and the Outback is a dangerous place to be. We meet Guy Pearce (who, despite numerous Hollywood films under his belt, I still think of him as 'Mike' from Neighbours) who has his car stolen by a gang of wasters who are on the run. This seems to tip him over the edge and he goes on a crusade to get it back... no matter who or what stands in his way.
I've seen plenty of 'revenge films' where the hero must go on a rampage in order to avenge something. However, this is the first one I've seen the hero base his sole purpose in life in order to take back a set of wheels. Unrealistic as that may sound for a plot, I suppose it's give some added credence by the fact that he doesn't seem that stable to begin with. And here's my first problem with the film. I didn't like Guy Pearce's character. I'm okay with 'anti-heroes' who have to bend and break the rules in order to bring about justice. However, he seems to be pretty much without morals. I won't go into the exact details, but, soon after meeting our 'hero' he doesn't something pretty dark which doesn't really make you identify with him. He then meets a guy who looks a bit like a fat version of Robert Pattinson. I later looked on the internet and was shocked when I realised it WAS Robert Pattinson! I'm guessing he wanted to 'bulk up' and look as different to his sparkly vampire persona as he could. And he succeeded.
Then the two of them generally continue their quest for a car (and stuff). Now, seeing as The Rover has already been in cinemas, I'm guessing that most people will now watch it on DVD. And here's the thing... because the 'story' is basically either or both Mike from Neighbours and Edward Cullen travelling through the Outback and meeting one dodgy person after the next – then 'rinse and repeat,' you can actually use the DVD's 'chapter skip' option to take you through the story and not actually miss anything. Seriously, if you tried pressing the button a few times you wouldn't miss a single pertinent plot detail. It's just 'meet the next grubby character and keep going.
Now, I know I'm being a bit negative about it all, but it does have its good points... namely its look and feel. I mentioned earlier about how it looked like 'The Road' (only in the sunnier Outback, obviously). It too is dark in tone, depressing and does a pretty good job at showing how life might be if society fell apart at the seams.
Most people will either love or hate it. And I can see both arguments. You'll either love how dark and moody it is (dialogue is often pretty light and well spaced-out!), or simply find it dull. There certainly isn't enough action in it to call it a thrilling action movie. Basically, if you're in the mood for 'bleak and slow' then you'll get something out of this. An roller-coaster ride-explosion-fest it is not. -
Academy-Award-Winner27 January 2016Screened out of competition at the 67th Cannes Film Festival David Michôd's second feature The Rover is not as fascinating as his Oscar nominated Animal Kingdom. Nevertheless it is an interesting picture and a respectable effort from the promising director.
The film opens to the Australian outback and says at the very beginning that it's been ten years after the collapse. People have suffered an immense economic crisis which left them in the vacuum of authority, lawlessness and banditry. Every single being on screen is desperate. A robbery gone bloody wrong, three men run away from the scene of the crime leaving a wounded brother behind. As their car breaks down along the way they steal another. It belongs to Eric and he is madly determined to get it back. What makes it more interesting is Eric and Rey, the man the gang left behind, come across each other and build up bonds.
At one point of their wearing journey Rey says "Not everything has to be about something" This stuck with me throughout, I took it as a way of saying the contrary -everything has to be about something-. Michôd's film works both as a post- apocalyptic nightmare and an absorbing contemporary western with something to say. Yes, the social commentary were a bit blatant at times (especially that talk between Eric and a soldier) but I like the whole aim of the film as to me it tried to look and find remnants of something human in its lost wanderers. Still though I find the finale to be infuriating, maybe that was the intention, but at least we get to learn why Eric is so inexorable about taking his car back. The reveal was heartbreaking and showed that one would still cling to love in the direst of circumstances.
As for Eric and Rey, I find their relationship intriguing. Eric is like the needed older brother, the father figure to Rey. Right after his singing "Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful" in the car, Rey goes and sits next to Eric. And at that moment I felt Rey wanted to come closer but Eric prevented it saying "go to sleep". I don't know, there was something there and I liked it.
The film is beautiful to look at, it's technically impressive and well directed. One should also mention the commendable work from its actors Pearce and Pattinson. Especially the latter who has never been better. While his face was distractingly over expressive on some occasions, Pattinson still gives a consistent performance as the half-witted Rey. -
thekarmicnomad6 June 2016The world is reeling from an economic melt down. Society hangs on precariously in a state of lawlessness. Following a botched bank robbery a man's car is stolen. This is his story of getting his car back.
The main character is hardened, non communicative and solely dedicated to the task of getting his car back. What follows is a violent road movie with one of the most unlikable, grumpiest heroes of all time.
Despite being a total douche I did start to warm to the character. This is a clear indication of how well made the movie is. Guy Pierce is great, which is just as well as he is tasked with shouldering most of the load.
The world is grubby, squalid and dangerous. Yet it has an element of realism about it. The police desperately try to keep order in a world where most people have all but given up.
An enjoyable watch with a beautifully bitter ending. -
rubenm15 June 2014In an extremely violent post-apocalyptic world where most human kindness and decency seems to have disappeared, a lone drifter hunts down a group of men who stole his car. That is, in a nutshell, the story of 'The Rover'.
The film is in many ways extremely nihilistic. There is little dialogue, the story takes place in the harsh and empty Australian desert, most characters are tough and tight-lipped, and the violence is abundant. This is at the same time the strength and the weakness of the film.
Watching it is an experience, many scenes are gripping and intense. But at times, I wished this would be a more 'normal' film, with more back story, more plot development, more dialogue. At the end, its slowness and weirdness got on my nerves. It is a very atmospheric film: the general mood of lawlessness, moral decay, and hopelessness is very captivating. But that in itself is not enough to carry the film. I would have liked a bit more explanation about why people act like they do.
One final remark: I was impressed by Robert Pattinson's acting. He plays a young man who seems to be not quite right in his head - an extremely demanding role. -
The Aussies continue to make different, edgy movies. The Australian movies I have seen contain a lot of violence (imagine that) and this one is in that vein (check out The Horseman - 2009).
The premise is simple - three thugs on the run have stolen Guy Pearce's car - and he wants it back. The opening scene car chase is unusual and quite interesting. From there the movie moves into a fairly common place "Where is my car?"; "I don't know"; "Tell me or I will shoot you" story line.
There are several improbabilities in the movie. The thugs' SUV rolls over many times (with no one wearing seat belts) - and no one gets seriously hurt. In fact, it is still running. Guess they make em sturdier after the collapse.
And, this is not much of a collapse: everyone still has electricity; maids still service hotel rooms; people can still buy ammo; railroads are still running. The only real indication that there was anything wrong is the fact that no one had bathed and the Australian landscape is very bleak. (I suspect that the Outback is always like that.)
The other improbability is that although a myriad of people are trying to kill Guy Pearce and his traveling companion, Robert Pattinson, they pass up several opportunities to upgrade their arsenal, which consists of a snub nose 38 and a semi-auto handgun (I think a Glock). Although Guy Pearce's focus on getting his car back may explain why he was satisfied with the the weapons they had.
A surprise was the good acting job that Robert Pattinson did. Having skipped the Twilight series (since I am not a pre-teen) he did a credible job as Rey, the confused, pretty spastic, brother of one of the thugs who stole the car. Pattinson was irritating to watch, always jerking around and not quite all there, but the role was well acted.
After all this negativity, why did I rate it an 7? Quite simply - the ending.
The last scene explains why Pearce was so fixated on getting his car back. (My buddy kept saying - "there is something about that car" - and he was right.) After all, the thugs' SUV Pearce was driving was probably better suited to the conditions anyway. The ending explains his motivation and tells you what he values.
Throughout the movie, Guy Pearce ruminates on several ideas: what it means to kill someone; the viability of a society where you can kill your wife and her lover - and no one comes after you, etc. These thoughts and wonderings give you a glimpse into a Guy (pun intended) who is more than what appears on the surface.
It all comes together in the final, very satisfying scene. So if you are OK with a lot of gun play and dirt, wading thru this one is all worth it when you come to the final scene. -
parry_na9 January 2021It starts grim, it ends grim. The locations are beautifully photographed, and the minimalist score helps convey the bleakness and isolation of the piece. Guy Pearce growls intensely through his brief bouts of dialogue as Eric, and Robert Pattinson is effective as slow-minded Rey.
It is all very one note. When grimness is all there is, and there's no lightness or shocks to break it up, the film becomes sadly dull. I found myself drifting away quite often, and I wasn't given the impression I missed anything.
Others liked this, and that's great; but for me, I found it a bit of a chore. My score is 4 out of 10. -
THE ROVER is a quirky and interesting little Australian movie detailing the collapse of society after a major economic collapse (thus making it an extremely timely movie in these financially-wary years). That it manages to successfully depict a post-apocalyptic world of sorts on what is obviously a limited budget is testament to the skill of the director and his crew, particularly the location manager and set designer.
This is a slow and sombre production with shades of SNOWTOWN and THE ROAD, although unlike MACBETH, which I watched the day before, it's never boring or dull. The story is sparse and drawn out, as this is a real slow burner of a movie, and yet at the same time it keeps you gripped to the screen. It helps that the ever-underrated Guy Pearce is cast in the lead role and gives a typically engrossing portrayal of a flawed man with a single-minded purpose.
There are some brief action sequences in this film and even something approaching a car chase, but it's not really an action movie. It's more of a suspense thriller with the tension gradually building as things approach a devastating climax. And, it surprises me to admit it, by far the best thing in the film is the acting of the young lead, Robert Pattinson. This guy is completely unrecognisable as the guy who played Edward Cullen in the TWILIGHT series. He's quite brilliant, giving a wonderfully mannered and sympathetic performance of a simple man who ends up being used and abused by everyone around him, and his performance comes out of nowhere. It's as though Pattinson was bored with the plastic TWILIGHT films and wanted to do something the polar opposite in order to prove his worth as an actor. Well, he successfully does that, and then some; his performance is outstanding, and made the film for me. -
evan_harvey15 June 2014David Michod is a great director, but he's a bad storyteller, a trait that ruined his first film as well. The Rover has some great cinematography, but a poorly-told story. It isn't that the overall plot is bad, but it's mishandled.
Guy Pearce is at times almost without an heartbeat, and at others times superbly on point, harking back to his unwashed role in The Proposition. Robert Pattinson is very good (and the best actor of the lot in this film).
The Australian outback is used quite well, but Michod never allows the audience to feel the desolate open spaces. The film has a rushed feel to it, even though there is at times too much empty space between the characters. The editing omits too much of the little details that make up an absorbing film for it to be truly effective.
The long shots and sparse dialogue both succeed and fail at different times. When it works it's fantastic, but when it fails, it's maddeningly frustrating.
The way Michod chooses to portray relationships in The Rover is at times unrealistic and stilted. He may have been going to for a particular style, but it's unnatural and feels forced, as if the actor's weren't given sufficient direction, and so they're at times left floundering.
On thing he does get right is a very Australia style of film, which is welcome and refreshing. While a lot of Aussie films are a bit crap and lack the money required these days to compete with the technical wizardry of Hollywood, quality Australian cinema strips bare the rawest elements of story and character. Hollywood keeps needing more and more glamour and technical wizardry to top it's last effort, but Australian cinema provides a view of an uncompromising and unpredictable land and people, much like the harsh landscape of the continent. Whatever mistakes Michod makes, he does manage to capture the dirty, dusty Australian heartland in a way that says more in it's visuals than in anything spoken.
There's a few moments of excellent sharp dialogue, and some very Australian ways of speaking.
Ultimately its a flawed film that is certainly an experience as much as anything else. The images used & the story told, while not living up to it's full potential, do manage to evoke more thoughts and feelings than any recent 100M$ US flick. I just wish Michod could tell his stories better. He's so close at times, yet far away at others. -
TheMarwood26 August 2014The Rover begins with some wit and energy, as three men fresh from some bloody crime get into a ridiculous argument and crash their car right in front of Guy Pearce's character's car. They steal his car and our very quiet lead character simply wants his car back and goes on the hunt. He quickly crosses paths with one of the men's injured mentally limited brother and they journey through a rundown landscape and form some sort of bond. This bare bones narrative has a nice set up, but becomes a monotonous series of detours that usually end in ugly ways. It's an ultimately pointless and empty exercise in sparse filmmaking and one note performances. When the resolution is reached the end result feels almost like a comedic punchline. The Rover is well shot and makes good use of its locations, but does little else and barely has a pulse.
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Just like the mud and the dust on the characters in the film, the excellent The Rover gets under the skin and remains there, long after the screen went black.
The story takes place in the Australian outback in the near future after a collapse. A bitter loner sees his car stolen by a gang and tries to get it back at all cost with the help of the wounded, simple brother of a gang member, left behind after a disastrous robbery.
Slow and intense The Rover sucks you into the desert, you can almost feel the heat and the flies in your face. Few words are used, more is said by gunshots. Here are no action heroes who at the end clean up the mess, restore the order and peace and let you leave theater with the feeling that you were nicely entertained. The people in The Rover are desperate to such extent that they've almost become indifferent towards life. They try to survive, period.
The bizarre relationship between the angry loner Eric and the naive, dependent Rey is wonderfully brought on screen. Both Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson deliver brilliant performances. Guy embodies perfectly the bitter,rude, inner wounded Eric with his body language and the intense gaze . Robert disappears into Rey, a damaged rather innocent soul who IMO has been taught to blindly obey and not to think for himself, in a way that will blow people away. The tics and blinks belong to Rey, you see them disappear when he feels more at ease, reappear in situations of stress. The supporting actors are amazing as well.
Although the film is dark, the mood is not cold IMO. Under the surface of alienation and cruelty there's a palpable emotional layer of vulnerability and fear. Michôd created a world frighteningly realistic and raw, a world we, civilized people, in fact don't want to face. With his second movie David shows again how incredibly talented he is.
I was eagerly anticipating The Rover and it met all my expectations. The performances alone is pure enjoyment together with the beautiful landscapes and the amazing music score. Some scenes are quite funny like Rey trying to do his best to be a good partner, or when he's singing.
There's also a lot to think about after watching The Rover. What collapse can cause such situation? How far are civilized people willing to go when there's nothing left to loose? Is Rey mentally disabled or is he the product of a very unfavorable education?
And why did I think about Animal Kingdom after The Rover had finished? See the movie and you'll know.
Sorry for mistakes, English isn't my native language. -
sickofenjoyingmyself25 May 2016The Rover is unflinchingly bleak in it's portrayal of a post apocalyptic Australia where society has regressed into a mistrusting and primal way of life. The world as we currently know it is gone and many of the things we now take for granted are in decline, and consequently expensive and sought after. Violence is prevalent in such a world - and a way of life - just as it has been so in the past of human history. The story focuses on Eric played by Guy Pearce. His car is stolen - and he goes about retrieving it with a violent vengeance as he discovers that Rey, played by Robert Pattinson, is the injured brother of one of the thieves they have carelessly left behind. Eric and Rey form an unlikely and uncomfortable bond as they journey towards the climax of the movie, and it is this bond that gives the story any form of hope and redemption for humanity. Pattinson is very good in his role as Rey. He plays a very simple and incredibly fragile man forced to take actions unnatural to him to survive. Pearce steals the show with his gritty performance. He is mysterious, brutal and intense. The world he lives in has hardened him considerably. But he still has love in his heart which is proved both with his relationship with Rey, and the final moment where we discover just what made him want his car back so badly. The Rover is underrated, and a triumph for Australian cinema.
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Hello_Im_David22 June 2014By definition a rover wanders without a fixed destination. Likewise, this movie just meandered about for an hour and a half and abruptly ended.
The whole thing starts when three people steal Guy Pearce's car and he goes mad crazy and starts hunting the guys that did it. Early on he comes across one of the culprits' brother, Robert Pattinson, who had been wounded and left behind in a robbery gone wrong. So Pearce uses him to find his car. Along the way they kill several people. They get to where they're going and they kill some more people, Pattinson dies, and then we find out why Pearce went murder crazy to get his car back: because his dead dog was in the trunk and he wanted to bury it.
Now this whole story takes place 10 years after "the collapse." We never really find out what the collapse is, but its clear from watching the movie that the biggest change is that people don't bathe anymore, because everyone in this movie had a perpetual layer of grime on them. No doubt this was to make things "gritty" but honestly if a society is still using paper money to buy and sell things then mankind can't be that far down the tube, right?
Anyways, the movie is very well put together, with some good cinematography and a decent performance from Guy Pearce. But there's really nothing at the center of the movie. There is absolutely NO character development for Pearce. We get no insight into his actions throughout the film because we don't know where he's been and we don't know where he's going. All we really know is that he really wants his car back. I think the ending with his dog is supposed to signal that he lost the last thing on Earth that mattered to him and he now has nothing left to lose. But if you're really willing to risk your own life and kill a half a dozen people just to bury your dog then there's some deeper problems there. Lastly I have to say Robert Pattinson's performance nearly killed me. He way overplayed his character, which I think was just supposed to be a little slow, but Pattinson played him like he was missing a chromosome. And if he was supposed to be a mentally challenged character then I wonder why he was given a gun in the first place. Long story short, Pattinson's character was just plain annoying and he somehow made a deep connection with Pearce's character. I really couldn't tell you how or why that happened, It just kinda happened and I suppose the audience is just supposed to accept it.
Overall I rather hated this movie. Still, it's probably better than half of the other movies playing at your local cinema. But I would recommend you just stay home and watch (or re- watch) Animal Kingdom, which is a much better film. -
Red_Identity27 August 2014The reviews for this weren't exactly bad, or even mixed. But it did seem to get a lot of negative ones, and a lot of neutral, unpassionate ones. To my surprise, this is a fine film. Sure, not all that original, but the directing is really strong, as is the acting, Robert Pattinson, in particular, really shines and the best I've ever seen him be. Who knew he had this sort of performance in him, I certainly didn't, and it makes me interested in what he can accomplish in the future. Guy Pearce was strong too, with a pretty subdued, but very intense, character to play. The rest of the supporting players give some nice work too. Overall, I recommend this.
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jtncsmistad2 September 2016I am becoming ever more partial to Australian cinema. And the futuristic thriller "The Rover" has only served to amplify my growing admiration.
Set a decade into the future after a catastrophic financial collapse, this severely stark story can't help but inspire a grim vibe of "The Road Warrior" smashes headlong into "The Book of Eli" variety of apocalyptic mood. The music is completely, and completely MIND-bending, Aussie indigenous. And the cinematography as realized throughout the ruthless terrain of the South Australian Outback by Natasha Braier is at once brutally gritty and strikingly spectacular.
Guy Pearce is plain and simple one of the finest actors of our time. Pearce's searing depiction of a guy who, having lost everything that matters in his life, has nothing left to lose is as sympathetic as it is repugnant. And that ain't easy to pull off. With a lesser actor is would be impossible. And let it be said that Robert Pattinson is a sheer revelation. He is damn near unrecognizable here, both in appearance and affectation, as a mentally challenged, trigger-happy man-child who nonetheless fully comprehends when a blood brother has egregiously and unforgivably let him down.
In the end we at last come to learn why Pearce's character of Eric is so viciously driven to recover the car a gang of ribald robbers had ripped off from him. And in that moment, and if possible, we find that we feel even more pity for the hopeless fate of this man doomed to be a rudderless rover for all the rest of his joyless days.
Not exactly the cheery stuff of "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm", certainly.
But then again, neither is the end of the world. -
billygoat10715 July 2014The thing about The Rover is it doesn't only let the plot get out of the way. Other than pointing at the hero, the title sums up the overall film, it often wanders around the deserted roads and broken towns. There are plenty of stories hinted behind the rubble of the anarchic world, but the main focus of this tale is about a man who just wants his car back. This case gives the total atmosphere of the condition, it acknowledges how desperate and deprived humanity has been, and that point makes it really intriguing. The details are brief yet the center is clear and the film is best that way because it falters when it breaks that direction, but the experience as a whole still remains as fascinating.
The movie makes sure that it doesn't reveal too much detail; it rather just paints a post-apocalyptic world of dread and bleakness. Instead of just spitting out too much information from the dialogue, it just makes you contemplate at the hopeless exteriors and potential danger in the deadly context. The citizens have gone cold-blooded and their grim faces often get infested by flies. Looking at these images alone can already tell a lot of stories. The hero's arc however could have been the most powerful. He's a lone vagrant who only owns a car which is the last thing he values and yet it is taken away from him. We don't know enough of this guy, but we feel his determination and anger through his actions. The last part sort of compromises that core, which makes the point of the story seem cloudier.
There is something still special in this flawed journey, the filmmaking is plain brilliant. Director David Michôd is known for his slickest tension, and here he delivers more than that. His pacing gives plenty of room for deadly silence that usually leads to a sudden chaos. There is also a remarkable car chase at the beginning in which has a part when the angry rover uses his wheels like creeping footsteps. The entire set piece is one of the amazing scenes of the film. The music score is mesmerizing as it stirs every single scenario. The performances are also splendid. People might call Eric as one of the variations of heroes like Clint Eastwood's "The Man with No Name" or Ryan Gosling's Driver because of his strong, fearless, and quiet trait, but this character has an actual backstory. Guy Pearce perfectly manifests the gloomy emotion and hidden rage of the titular rover. Robert Patterson is also great in depicting his character's lost from his moral dilemmas and it sometimes gets a bit terrifying.
The final scene in The Rover makes the plight feel underwhelming. Despite of that, the experience is still extremely fascinating. It is basically a vast exposition that has a compelling backstory in every place they stop by. With all the heartfelt situations in its self-destructing society, it simply builds a bigger world. Indeed, that is a style which defines pure cinema and I guess that will fully admire everyone in the end. Its signature narrative could have been a lot straighter, but observing around the environment is already worth the ride. -
MattWillow14 November 2022Starts off as a revenge piece about a man losing his car to some thugs in the middle of an unforgiving harsh land. He forms an unexpected allegiance with the somewhat simple minded brother of one of the villains.
From here it turns into a road movie of sorts, as the two navigate the perils of the wasteland they're in trying to find his car.
The scenery is undoutedly great to watch, but excessive use of it make the pace lagg a bit. Also there is a lot of scentences being repeated or plain staring into the distance long periods of time, which gets a bit annoying.
Have to say that the performances of most the actors is quite good, taking into account the scope of the film. Guy Pearce does a good job as the ruthless avenger. Robert Pattinson also ok as the half-wit sidekick.
There could maybe have been more nuances to the main character which would have made it easier to understand his violent actions. As it was, large portions of the film you didn't have anyone to root for.
The ending worked for me at least to some degree, which in small part made up for the undeveloped storyline. -
Mr-Fusion24 September 2014Given the post-collapse Outback setting, comparisons to MAD MAX are inevitable. But THE ROVER has more in common with THE PROPOSITION; it's a distinctly brooding affair, gritty and somewhat nihilistic. We aren't given a background for "the collapse", but society's definitely a shambles. And that loss of morals is embodied by on-the-raggedy-edge Guy Pearce, who appears shockingly gaunt and emotionally beaten. He's the reason why I sought out this movie, and the reason why anyone should; it's a seethingly intense performance. The movie doesn't offer any reason why Pearce is gunning for his stolen car until the very end - and though I do like the reason given, this is a very bleak movie. It'll be a while before I ever come back to this one.
5/10 -
maiveh-263-65410414 March 2015I was very motivated to watch this movie because I truly admire Pattinson as a full on artist. I had the feeling his performance was going to be good,but I honestly didn't expect "great", and I was so taken over by it! I'm happy he had this chance to show he it's not "just a handsome face". After this performance powerful yet subtle and mighty professional, Pattinson shows what he is made of. I hope after this he gets more roles and invitations to work for serious movies. He reminds me of both DiCaprio and Pitt at the beginning of their careers. Guy's performance was off the charts. Don't miss his expression on th last 10 minutes of the movie. It's of the best I have seen him deliver. I believe this movie will never be a crowd pleaser because it is way too artistic to be popular, there a many symbols and allegories to losses that will be missed... It's a work of art though. Perseverance pays off Mr. Pattinson. Keep up the good work and good luck.
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David Michod's directorial debut Animal Kingdom was one of the top motion pictures of 2010, and easily one of the finest Australian movies ever made. His long-awaited sophomore effort – a gritty, semi-dystopian tale that is difficult to pigeonhole into a single genre – is a major comedown. Opening with an electrifying first act that plays out like a Mad Max homage, The Rover starts strong and it appears that Michod has struck cinematic gold twice. Unfortunately, the film segues into a frustratingly abstract and meandering tale of guilt, desperation and reflection, losing all of its steam in the process, until a slight pickup near the end. The harsh and baron setting is beautifully shot by cinematographer Natasha Braier and the eclectic score composed by Antony Partos is unique and absorbing, however a sense of repetitiveness creeps in due to the slow-moving narrative. Guy Pearce is commanding as the chillingly ruthless Eric, the titular nomad who travels across a lawless Australian outback to retrieve his stolen car, whilst Robert Pattinson sheds his lover-boy celebrity persona to deliver an admirably rough-around-the-edges performance as Eric's mentally slow and put upon travelling partner Rey. The Rover boasts a lot of separately impressive ingredients but, disappointingly, Michod can't gel them together to create another home grown masterpiece.
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yrmacallan23 June 2014It's very hard to give credit to anything in this movie, even where it might be do, when just about everything that happens involves people behaving like idiots.
This nonsensical mess goes on and on but manages to be so off the charts bad that you are kept from leaving early.
And then you receive your "reward" for waiting, an ending that will make you lose the mental brake that keeps you from spouting words at random at an elevated volume that convey to others the impression that you've just been had and feel a considerable amount of displeasure about the fact.
"10 years after the collapse"? Of what, brains? Animal Kingdom at least made some kind of sense. -
capncal22 June 2014What a bleak future this film portrays.
Felt like an apocalyptic Western meets old school Road Warrior. Filmed in the Australian desert, I think they could have financed this film from loose change at starring actors Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson's houses.
Without a doubt the best performance from Robert Pattinson I've seen. Granted, I've not seen too many Pattinson films but he does a really good job of playing the half wit brother of one of the dudes jacked Guy's car.
Mysterious drifter shows up at the filthiest, dingiest outback pub in Australia just for a glass of water. Three shot up dudes in a truck crash outside the pub, steal his car and he will stop and nothing, nothing to get it back.
It's a wonderfully dreary world in which this film is set. Everyone is so dirty. They should get an Oscar for make up when all the actors did was not shower for what looks about three months.
Lots of long shots, tension filled chords supply the majority of the soundtrack.
I really dug it. Most folks are gonna hate it. Very gritty. Very dirty. Very violent. Very non-Hollywood.
It's a nice piece of cinema. And there's a midget. -
cinematic_aficionado15 August 2014We find ourselves in a lawless land. Without any explanation as to how it got to be as is, it is quickly established that laws have become lax and every person owns a gun to protect themselves as some kind of human jungle has come to prevail.
The story focuses on one man. His car is stolen by a group of bandits and tries to get it back. During an encounter he makes clear that he is prepared to die to get back his car. The reason remains hidden. After being knocked out the rest of the film is about this man's pursuit of the bandits.
In this wild, gun ho world, he makes an unlikely ally in the form of a half-witted young man. It is a battle for survival with the occasional moments of human interaction, moments that occur under the auspices of basic instincts where death could occur at any given moment.
Appropriately filmed in a desert-like area this is a visceral experience with enough rawness that is engaging and stimulating.
In a world where animal instincts are allowed to prevail, how can one survive, trust and move forward? -
I watched it in a cinema in the Philippines where there was only one other patron. He walked out. People in the Philippines do not kiss 141 pesos goodbye lightly. He shuffled out half way through and I would have followed except I wanted to write this review. I was also strangely fascinated to see if it could get any more pretentious and if the screenplay could possibly continue to get more and more vacuous. There are no redeeming features in this lazy movie whatsoever. The only reason we knew it was some years after some unspecified apocalyptic event was that the screen told us in the beginning. You could have told the same story without the apocalypse. It tried to mystify the audience but it did not fool me. It was an indolent film. I think the only reason they set it post apocalypse was so that they had an excuse to explain the many loose ends and to get away with conning the audience. It would use sudden brutal shootings to get your attention but these shootings had no real reason for happening. They seemed to be there to imitate Tarantino but I assure you David Michod who wrote this pretentious drivel is no Tarantino. It was just dumb and unconvincing while masquerading as an art house movie. It was a South Australian movie. I was brought up there so I had a stake in liking it. It was filmed in a very unattractive looking part of the outback so you didn't even get the beautiful scenery of Australia's stunning outback (where I now live incidentally). It looked like northern South Australia just south of where it starts to get incredibly beautiful. I don't know what the long freight train was doing in the movie except I guess it saved a lot of cost to film it. If it was post apocalypse the number of carriages in it were far too many. It was going somewhere with an enormous amount of cargo. Some apocalypse. It just did not add up. It was a low budget movie it seemed with low outcomes entertainment wise. Many other things didn't add up just take your pick. Pearce mumbling in a thick Aussie accent- one I have myself actually- did not cut it with me. It was not exotic to me just prosaic. But that would be OK if it meant something or added to the movie. It did not. In fact it is one of the worst screenplays I have ever encountered. Guy would just ask a vapid question; the interlocutor would not answer it and so Guy would repeat it. The person would repeatedly refuse to not answer it and around it went again with Guy trying to look like a macho man. IT WAS PATHETIC WITHOUT THE PATHOS. This happened over and over. I mean some lines were so pathetic I nearly laughed out loud (with derision). Some guy points a rifle at the unarmed Pearce in the middle of nowhere and Pearce says something like if you don't give me my car back I am going to sit in that truck until you do. Guy Pearce mumbles in an incomprehensible (even for me who knows the accent) "strine" slang. Then Robert Pattinson (who did his best with this atrocious screenplay) mumbles back in deep southern USA slang which I understood better than my own accent from Pearce. Robert did try. He would be fine in a half decent movie. The appalling proposition put by the grandma (Gillian Jones) was not only disgusting and despicable but utterly irrelevant to anything preceding or following it. I suppose it was supposed to be edgy and arty. But really it was just repulsively irrelevant. There was nothing to be relevant to. Her prosaic delivery made it even worse. How people can have the nerve to serve up this reprehensible drivel is beyond me. The presence of the Chinese people seemed disconnected to any semblance of a story. The two indigenous outback people (I work with traditional Aboriginal people so I know what I am talking about) was pure cinematic tokenism. Both of them appeared individually in scenes. In the remote bush one rarely sees indigenous people wandering around alone; possible but it did not ring true. The premise of the movie was the protagonist trying to get his stolen car. He kept asking people out in the middle of nowhere where the three men with his car were. How would they know? Honestly folks if you lived there you would understand just how stupid this was. Its a bit hard to explain if you don't know the area. There was no suspense at all in the movie. None at all. This is down there with one of the worst movies I have ever seen and being South Australian I really wanted it to be good.