'The Rover' A Review

The Rover is a dystopian western set in the Australia outback. The film opens with a title card "Ten years after the collapse." Either military, economic, societal or some combination the collapse is never explained. The first scene we see Eric(Guy Pearce) sleeping in his car. He awakens and drives to a bar and gets some water. His car is stolen by three criminals who have just come from a shoot out. Eric pursues and on his way captures one of the criminals brothers who was wounded and left behind, Rey played by Robert Pattinson. An odd relationship develops as the two men travel through the blasted lawless landscape in pursuit of a car with unknown significance.

Visually the film is bleak and beautiful, the score haunting, the story streamlined and sparse with much left to interpretation. Across the board the performances are rich with depth and subtext, the dialogue complex in it's layered ambiguity. Pearce stands at the center, quiet and determined, unflinching and seemingly morally vacant. He is a man created by the world that has moved on where whim or honor or revenge govern action not a voided societal contract. Pattinson gives his best performance to date as a gross, fumbling, almost oafish wannabe gangster. It's unclear for most of the film if there is something wrong with him or if he's just dumb. Pearce and Pattinson develop a precarious bond on their journey with Pattinson doing most of the talking. He creates a character we shouldn't like with naked neediness and an inability to comprehend motivation or consequence but some how we do like him. The supporting cast brings the foreign and frightening landscape into stark focus.

The ending is somewhat problematic with Pattinson, in the climatic scene, crossing the line from character to caricature. He stutters, he spits, he chews the scenery and much of the authenticity created in the previous hour is lost. The reveal, the motivation of Pearce, is also somewhat mystifying however the film never promises or implies there will be any kind of resolution. The Rover isn't the type of film that has a satisfying ending, it's a brief glimpse into a desolate future.

Violent, poetic, and arresting. The Rover shows us a world where morality has lost its meaning.

See It.