In other words, a Chloe Review is about to happen. Take appropriate
action.
The Particulars: “The Road”
was filmed in Novaliches, Philippines in 2011 and released in the United States
in 2012. The budget was restricted, but I could find no exact figure. English
subtitles.
The Chloe Blurb: When three
teenagers go missing on a lonely road outside of Manila, the case sparks
memories for the police of another disappearance on the road ten years prior. How
far back does this evil go?
The Players: Fine actors. I
didn’t have a problem with any of them, which is sometimes the case in lower
budget horror movies. They were all believable in the parts given them. Renz Valerio
who played the young boy in the second section of the movie, was particularly
memorable, not necessarily for what he did but what he didn’t do. There was no
overacting, a pitfall into which many would trip with such a beefy role. Also
charming was Ynna Asistio
as Martha, the laundry girl.
On the Plot: This was a
doozy. Not so much complicated as simply intermingled to the point of incest…
at least that’s the feeling the viewer is left with. The whole thing makes
sense, absolutely; and the story is an interesting one, reminiscent of a
certain Hitchcock classic. But the way the storyline was laid out made my head
hurt. The best way to describe it is to visualize a ball of yarn being rolled.
Over and over again, the same ground is covered but never the same terrain. As
a writer, I see what they were doing and I was impressed that they were able to
pull it off, but… I just didn’t like it. The payoff wasn’t quite worth the
audience’s effort.
Plot Holes, Miscues and the
Like: No spoilers here. Everyone enjoy!
After I watch a movie, I jot down all the questions the film left
unanswered. Usually, there’s quite a few. But for “The Road” I had nothing. I’m
not quite sure there wasn’t any though. By the end, I was so ready for the
movie to be over (fatigue factor of keeping up with all that yarn), I may have
just said “Ok, I get it. It works. Moving on.” The survival of one character
near the end surprised me and I didn’t quite get why that happened. I’m letting
that slide, however, mainly because I don’t care to watch this movie again.
This one’s dark, folks.
Until tomorrow…
Chloe
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