You know, I really do not care for the tastemakers who have already dismissed this film for serious Oscar consideration. For me, it was the most important film of 2009, dealing as it did with this incredible relationship of a father and his son.
Profile in LA Family Mag Nov. 2009 by Noe Gold:
Here's a link to my article in our recent LA Family Magazine November issue in the new "V-Mag" format, a profile of young acting sensation Kodi Smit-McPhee:
www.webpublished.com/gallery/view.asp?seq=107914&page...
Young Actor Spotlight
Kodi Smit-McPhee, "The Road
By Noe Gold
When Viggo Mortensen read the script for "The Road," a film in which he portrays a father who wanders with his son, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, through a devastated landscape after the earth has imploded, he thought it would be a good picture if they found the right 12-year-old to play the boy.
"Dramatically or practically speaking, I thought, 'Well, they need to find the best young actor in the world to play this part,' he says. "No matter how well it's shot, how well it's cast, if the boy – who is at the center of the story really – isn't extraordinar
y, it can only be a good movie, at best."Now that the movie is finished and about to be released, Mortensen acts like he is the one who had something to learn from this neophyte. "I don't think anyone could have done it better than the way Kodi has played the character. He's an extraordinary actor. His performance will be a historic performance, I think, honestly that it's going to be one of those that people remember for years … for years."
That is praise indeed coming from an actor who has garnered his share of awards, and who is being talked up himself as a favorite for Oscar gold this year.
Kodi Smit-McPhee got the world's attention in 2007 after starring opposite Eric Bana and Franka Potente in the critically acclaimed "Romulus, My Father," for which he received the Australian Film Institute's Young Actor Award and was also nominated for the Institute's Best Lead Actor prize.
The young thespian – he was born June 13, 1996 – comes from an acting family. His older sister Sianoa is an actress and Kodi's father Andy has appeared in dozens of films and television shows in his native Australia and serves as his children's acting coach. He was on the set of "The Road" constantly, guiding his son through some difficult scenes. Besides acting, Kodi enjoys skateboarding and making music on his computer.
Editor's Note in LA Family Mag Nov. 2009 by Noe Gold:
Here's a link to my Editor's Note in our recent LA Family Magazine November issue in the new "V-Mag" format, giving thanks for the movie "The Road":
www.webpublished.com/gallery/view.asp?seq=107914&page...
And here's a link to my write-up in the new Family Movie Guide Sneaks feature in the LA Family Magazine November issue in the new "V-Mag" format, in which we recommend the movie "The Road":
www.webpublished.com/gallery/view.asp?seq=107914&page...
The Road
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Charlize Theron with Robert Duvall; Directed by John Hillcoat
The Weinstein Co.
Based on Cormac McCarthy's beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen leads an all-star cast in the big-screen adaptation of The Road, the epic post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son across a barren landscape that was blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed civilization and most life on earth. This is not for the kids, but we recommend it here because it is an absolute chiller of a tale of the devotion of parenthood. Destined for Oscar greatness for Mortensen. See our profile of young Scott-McPhee in this Family Entertainment section.
