YUP. The Robert Pattinson binge continues.
I don’t know what I was expecting out of him in this movie but what he gave me was definitely unexpected; and while I know he’s not the point of this movie, he’s still the point of this movie - ya know?
SYNOPSIS: Taking place in a near-future dystopian rendition of the Australian Outback, a man (Guy Pearce) has his car stolen, and teams up with a wounded man named Rey (Robert Pattinson) to get it, and whatever possessions inside, back.
This didn’t really do it for me, but I don’t think there’s anything inherently bad about it, if that makes any sense? What really drags this down for me is the bland and static leading characters. Guy Pearce gives a pretty captivating performance, but his character is just a straight up asshole. Nothing he does makes him likable whatsoever, and for a movie that’s pretty much asking you to root for him it never does anything to get the audience on his side. He does something 30 minutes into the movie that was so unnecessarily evil that I was close to just not watching the rest of the movie. Maybe it just caught me off guard, but really, how do you expect me to be on this guy’s side?
This distaste I had for the main character also made the main plot thread very unappealing and uninteresting. I will say though, I can admit that I really did not know where this movie was going to end up, so the unpredictability strung me along to the end.
On the other hand, Robert Pattinson’s character has a little bit more to him than our lead protagonist. It’s crazy to think that when this movie came out, this was considered his best performance yet; he would top it again and AGAIN in the years to come. He does some really different stuff here though, and I definitely consider his character far more charismatic and likable than the main protagonist.
The direction and atmosphere that David Michod creates here is very prominent. Everyone looks like they have skin cancer, and flies buzz around the characters' faces in the close ups. You can practically feel the heat coming off of this movie, and I felt very involved in the world.
The violence in this film made the action very intense and suspenseful. It was all directed with a sense of realism at hand, so when guns started to go off, it all felt very practical and played down in the best sort of way.
With an unlikeable protagonist with no character development and a weak plot, The Rover never exceeds expectations. It’s well helmed in a sense, but the story and characters don’t have enough meat on their bones (so to speak) to make it all worthwhile.
Also, did not know Guy Pearce was Australian. The more you know.
5/10
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