Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel is the basis for this story about a man (Viggo Mortensen)  and his son (Kodi Smit-Mcphee), trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where the Earth is dying. In this monochromatic world, the sun is hidden behind an oppressive bank of clouds, nothing is growing, all the animals are dead, and what is left of humanity has turned to cannibalism to survive. Terrified for his son's future, the man is distrustful and desperate as he tries to find enough food and shelter, while the world grows colder and ever more inhospitable. Heading for the dubious safety of the coast, they struggle to keep together and alive in world gone wild.

Chances are, like me, you haven't read this book, so it's hard to say how the book translates to the screen and you probably shouldn't judge it by the book anyway. As a movie, however, it is spectacularly and relentlessly bleak, the lack of hope oppressive and so tiring, that a couple of times I found myself hoping the characters would use the two bullets they had left to put us all out of our misery.

The nature of the apocalypse remains unstated, as do the names of the characters. The misery is broken periodically by the man's dreams of happier times, and his wife (Charlize Theron) who succumbs to the loss of all hope much sooner than her husband and her son.

Viggo Mortensen is intense and unyielding as the man trying to cling to the last vestiges of his humanity in a world where it no longer exists. The stand-out, however, is newcomer Kodi Smit McPhee who, in addition to looking as if he really is Charlize Theron's son, delivers a surprisingly nuanced performance for one so young. You can be sure you'll be seeing more of this young man.

Directed by Australian director John Hillcoat — whose previous outing about a man who sells out his brother to save his own neck, The Proposition, penned by Nick Cave, is almost cheerful by comparison — the film never wavers from its bleak tone. Hillcoat has an eye for the gothic, and the graphic. Be prepared for some grisly and confronting scenes as father and son dodge roving bands of cannibals, stumbling across their killing grounds more than once, which are depicted in great and glorious detail.

One can't fault the acting in this film, the cinematography or the art direction. I thought the ending a little too glib and Hollywood, however.  In a world so lacking in hope, it seemed rather contrived to have it suddenly spring from nowhere, although I understand the need for some sort of resolution that didn't leave the audience wanting to slash their wrists with despair by the end of the film. I'm not sure if the book has the same ending, but if it has, perhaps it needed some relief, too.

This is not a date movie, but if you want to see something that will stay with you long after the come up, then this is definitely for you.

Well... I finally got my act together an updated the worldbuildingworkshops.com website with the dates for this year.

If you want to book, you can do it here with Ticketek. You have to select the weekend pass for the workshop to show up in the listings.

This is the last year we'll run world building. We'll focus on another aspect of writing next year, so if you've been planning to do the class, you'd better do it this year!

Don't miss out!

I'll blog about this some more tomorrow when I'm more organised...

In the meantime, check out the Supanova website!

Well... I thought my Radio movie reviewing days were over, now I left Australia, but it seems that even with the time difference, I'm still in demand in WA. So I'll be doing the reviews on a Tuesday for ABC regional radio (and ocassionally Perth) every week by phone.

So... here is this week's review.

Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese's latest outing is the mystery thriller Shutter Island, set in 1954. After the death of his wife (Michelle Williams) in a fire, U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), requests the assignment to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island, where the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane is housed. Once he reaches the island with his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), he is frustrated in his investigation by the psychiatrists (Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow) running the place. He soon begins to suspect the US Government is sanctioning experiments on mental patients on Shutter Island using techniques pioneered by the Nazi's, based in part on his own experiences when he helped liberate Dachau during World War II. When a hurricane cuts the island off from the mainland and any chance of escape, Teddy is forced to open some old wounds to get to the truth, which is something he really isn't prepared to face.

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel, Shutter Island is a terse thriller that spends much of its time in flashbacks, that seem irrelevant until you get near the end of the film. The acting, as one would expect from any Scorsese-helmed film, is excellent. The cast is impressive, even among the minor players, which includes Patricia Clarkson as a psychiatrist, and an excellent Jackie Earle Hailey as George Noyce, an inmate whose recollections of events are the key to Teddy working out what is going on.

It is on this point, however, that the film unravelled a bit for me. This is a story with a twist, so I don't want to say too much, but the observant among you will begin to work out what it is, about two-thirds of the way into the story. You see, my problem is that at no time does our hero work it out. He learns the truth, of course, but someone has to explain it to him. I felt this lessened the impact of the ending, which would have been far more powerful, in my opinion, if Teddy had come to the truth himself.

Having said that, it's probably the only fault I can find with this film. It is scary, tense and very well acted and, unless you're especially fussy like me, won't find much to complain about.

You'd think a visit from my HarperCollins Australia editor would involve work, wouldn't you...

Well, we had breakfast and coffee at Jo Seager's. Followed by more coffee from the bakery in Rangiora. Followed by lunch and the most awesome Siefried Nelson Chardonnay at The Gates in Waiui, followed by cheese and more wine more coffee, followed by dinner and more wine and more coffee and chocolate mud cake at Cafe 51 back in Oxford.

Seriously... all I have done all day is eat and drink.

It's tough being an author.... hehehe