While Mad Max is full of cartoon violence, explosions, stunts and costumes, The Rover is bleak and depressing. Its violence is gratuitous to the extent that by the end the shock factor has vanished. Indeed The Rover is the film that Quentin Tarantino would make if he came to Australia.
While Guy Pearce is the drawcard and Robert Pattinson the youth interest, the Australian outback is the dominant feature of the film. It’s not given the usual sweeping landscape treatment though. The camera rarely strays above eye level and the result is tight, dusty and personal.
Pearce’s face is the main recipient of this detailed examination. He has an amazing ability in the film to look both incredibly haggard and old, and then youthful and uncreased. It goes to the heart of Pearce’s character Eric who is sentimental and protective but also hard and ruthless. He has to be to survive. It’s what has become of his Australia and his life. Eric’s motivation is as questionable as his morals and the plot.
The Rover is a tough film that is tough to watch but the rewards are excellent performances from Pearce and Robert Pattinson who couldn’t be further from Twilight if it bit him!
