FOLLOWING his critically-acclaimed 2010 film Animal Kingdom, maverick Australian director David Michod returns with another dystopian crime drama. The Rover is set 10 years after the collapse (of the Western economy) where basic necessities such as water, food, shelter and fuel are so scarce that people turn against one another, trying to protect their commodities.
Set in Australia, the story begins when three survivors ditch their pick-up truck and opt for an ordinary looking car that belongs to a man, Eric (Guy Pearce). The thing is, the car is the only possession Eric has since the collapse.
Eric is a depressed guy who hardly smiles, let alone acknowledges anyone around him. As he sits alone in the forlorn Cambodian diner in the middle of nowhere, he is unaware that a gang of petty criminals — Henry (Scoot McNairy), Archie (David Field) and Caleb (Tawanda Manyimo) — are fleeing from a robbery that has gone terribly wrong.
They crash their truck and seeing Eric’s car nearby, are determined to continue their getaway with it. When Eric realises that his car is gone, that’s when the story begins.
With nothing to lose, Eric begins his hunt to track down the criminals and reclaim his car. He is soon confronted by the badly wounded Rey (Robert Pattinson), Henry’s younger brother who is left behind to die after the heist goes wrong.
Eric and Rey form an unlikely friendship that will take them on a trip across the desert road of the Australian Outback, all the while encountering murderous carnival workers, innocent aboriginal children and the remaining fragments of a besieged and disillusioned military folks trying to hold the world together.
The Rover isn’t for everyone. For one, the film does not properly explain the circumstances that the characters are facing or what makes them who they are for that matter. Everyone speaks in a funny accent (there’s Australian, the slow drawl of the southern American accent, Chinese and Cambodian), making the film feels like a Spaghetti Western of sorts. It gets weirder when the characters begin to shoot at everyone they encounter.
Unlike the many films set in the dystopian future, The Rover has some redeeming qualities. Its raw and gritty portrayal of the forgotten folks feels realistic, and when it comes to showing a disintegrating society — where laws are almost non-existent — it does the trick quite brilliantly.
Back to the story, viewers never get to understand Eric’s determination in pursuing his old car until much later. His sentiment towards his car is left unsaid in most parts, with the audience constantly reminded that it is “the only thing left to remind him of his old life”. The big unveil happens towards the end of the story, the missing picture that completes the puzzle.
And then there is the mysterious Rey, who seems socially inept. But one thing’s certain — he is a smart guy. The psychological bond he shares with Eric can only be explained by the fact that they need each other to survive. While Rey is indebted to Eric for saving his life, he is also the only person who knows his brother’s whereabouts, leaving Eric with no choice but to take him along in his search for his car.
Director Michod is very fond of filming Pearce up close, whether he is in the car staring into emptiness or killing someone in cold blood. While the audience are drawn into Pearce’s character — and the way he makes the character neither good nor bad, what is equally admirable is his determination — twisted but noble nonetheless — to protect what little thing he owns in the world of emptiness.
Twilight poster-boy Robert Pattinson is almost unrecognisable here. A wonder to watch, he proves his critics wrong by showing a spectacular side to his acting range.
Pattinson is eager to please critics with his character — a stuttering, socially-awkward man with childlike dispositions.
He carries similar intensity and vulnerability as he did with his character in the beautifully-filmed 2011 film, Water For Elephants, starring opposite Academy Award winners, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz.
The Rover is peppered with violence, without losing sight on important reminder that everything you love can be taken away from you in an instant. The plot on greed, power and social decay also mirror events that happened at the turn of the century — when prospects from across the continent came for a slice of fortune to feed the new world superpowers. With them come the leeches, the hustlers and criminals who hope to exploit the richness.
But more than anything, The Rover is a film that requires a lot of patience. It can be a rewarding experience in the end but only if you have the guts to handle the journey.