The Rover (2014)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The Rover.Dark, mysterious and sad. Something the Aussies can do without exception. Guy Pierce is superb as are all the cast and that wonderful Aussie outback as the never ending backdrop. Stick with it as its what I believe is called a slow burner. Why does he want the car so much, see if you can work it out. I did the next day! Defenetly worth a look.

Pearce, as the Protagonist, delivers a strong performance. I have come expect this from him. His character seethes and silently wrestles with rage throughout. Though there is no real scope to display range, his delivery is authentic, making the character believable. Pattison gives an engaging performance, this was unexpected. He did well not to overact and allow his character, Rey, to drift into caricature or start mugging. The movie has the spare, unforgiving Western nowhereness you'd associate with Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy -transposed to Australia. The Protagonist pursues the stolen car with the same desperate relentlessness Billy pursues his father's stolen horse in The Crossing. I watched this movie when it came out first and enjoyed it more perhaps on my recent second viewing. The reviews I have read are polarised; I can't relate to much of the criticism and I can't say the film is exceptional. It is entertaining with decent production values, great cinematography. The dialogue is sparse, the lack of tropes is refreshing. A strong lead performance and good support. Well worth watching.

A little slow in the very beginning but an intriguing story and relationship that is built with the two main characters really made for a Good movie! You will be surprised and interested.... Both Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson were a pleasure to watch. A deviation from character portrayal for Pattinson and I was pleasantly surprised at his ability to make you believe his character and become almost endearing regardless of the odd part he plays.

The 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.