MovieChat Forums > The Rover (2014) Discussion > A stupid man's tale

A stupid man's tale

posted 9 years ago by klemen-kokot
11 replies | jump to latest

Let me start out by saying that I liked this movie, it was shot and lit beautifully and the performances of the leads' were astonishing. The ending (as he goes to open the trunk) is predictably satisfying.

But I had some problems with the script. First of, this scenario could never happen, unless all people in the movie are stupid.

>>SPOILERS<<

1. Why do they steal his car? It would probably be easier and faster to remove the tubes underneath their truck. They stole the car without even checking out how much fuel is in it (in a world where fuel is scarce I wouldn't assume that every car by the road has a full tank of gas).

2. The dialogue with "Grandma" felt out of place. The whole movie is very light on dialogue, so this made it noticable as exposition dialogue even more. It just explained to the viewevers who haven't figured it out yet that it really is just about the car.

3. Pierce's character assumes that Rey's brother is one of the men he is after. It didn't even occur to him that Ray's brother might as well have been a victim of a car theft. It's convenient that his assumption was correct, otherwise they would have been driving for days without really getting anywhere.

4. Very convenient that the "thieves" didn't switch cars ever again, eventhough it had a broken window and must have smelled like a dead dog died in there.

5. Again, very convenient that the "thieves" haven't even opened the trunk of the stolen car. You would assume they would at least look there for fuel/food/water/money. If they did (if they were smart) they would have noticed a dog's carcass (I am curious how they never smelled the dog, when they have been driving for days in that heat).

6. It is also handy how Pierce's character never assumed thieves would switch cars or get rid of the dead dog.

7. "Pretty girl rock" was a mood killer and had no place in the movie, no matter what the director says.

Overall, great movie, would recommend watching. But it had some glaring convenient moments that allowed for the plot to be pushed forward.

[–] Noise_X 9 years ago

And he could have just asked to give him the dog when they talked at the beginning instead of killing everybody.

[–] lists-94 9 years ago

I'm willing to overlook a few things to allow the plot to continue, particularly when the film is as good as this one.

But that song choice? Only unforgiveable thing in the film. What a shame.

[–] blackbeanie 9 years ago

Really? Many critics thought it was genial and I agree. The director wanted to show the audience that Rey would've been a normal guy, going out, listening to pop songs and being busy with girls if ... society hadn't become so bleak and depressed. Instead of using words he used this silly pop song on the radio while Rey was thinking about his brother and what to do with him.
It was funny and sad at the same time , how Rey with his looks was singing these words.
I don't think it was intentional of David Michôd but for me the "don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful" could've also been a nod to the starstatus of the actor.

[–] woodstock1960 9 years ago

Here's the reasoning behind the song:

The scene which involves Rey (Robert Pattinson) listening to the song "Pretty Girl Rock" by Keri Hilson is a joke by the director to remind the audience of how pretty Pattinson use to look in the Twilight films.

"Ain't life grand!"

[–] blackbeanie 9 years ago

David Michôd never mentioned this in his promo interviews. He gave the explanation I gave in my former reply. But in a way I like to believe too that choosing this song and these words were kind of a joke towards the actor who, in his Twilight years, was adored by the female part of the world and hated by the male part :).

[–] woodstock1960 9 years ago

Blackbeanie, if you look at the trivia section of this movie here on IMDB, you'll see where it says exactly as I posted. I ccp'd it straight from there.

"Ain't life grand!"

[–] tedkraan 8 years ago

Did men really hate Robert Patterson? I've seen a lot of hate on the abomination they made of the curse of lycanthropy and vamperism.

In Twilight they were portraited as superpowers instead of curses. I myself found that the dumbest of those movies.

[–] CurzonStreet 8 years ago

Well the comment in the Trivia section is wrong. Just because someone put a comment in there doesn't make it true. Those kinds of trivia are not sourced or verified in any way, they have no validity.

Michod talked about the song at the Q & A following the film's screening in London (the full video is on YT), and he said it had nothing to do with how Pattinson looked in any film. It had to do with Rey, his character, being a normal young man, taking a break from all the turmoil he was in and passing a few moments in normalcy, listening to pop music on the car radio.

The original song he chose was a song by the Pussycat Dolls, but at the last moment he went with Pretty Girl Rock instead. There's also a part where Michod talks about how he let Pattinson improvise during the scene, and he spontaneously began singing a gospel song on his onw, not listening to the radio at all. They almost went with that take, Michod said everyone on set was very impressed with Pattinson's rendition of the song.
.

[–] cthulhulurks 8 years ago

It s there to show the charactet is confused and deluded

my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings

[–] gadubradu 8 years ago

Since replies tended to focus on the pop song I thought I would acknowledge the other points you raised.

1. I'm guessing they were freaked out after the crash or the car wouldn't start at first try so they just improvised by stealing. I was amazed as well at how they just assumed 10 years after the apocalypse that some dusty car would just work. I guess they just thought they were lucky. Anyway, they were in a BIG hurry to move hence the irrationality.

2. No comment here.

3. Yah, that confused me as well. Might be worth rewatching, there might be a clue in their dialogue while Rey was mumbling before collapsing

4. Good point. Through a little suspension of disbelief magic I'll try to explain it by assuming the thieves were so panicked that they just didn't bother until they got to the safe house. Though Eric and Rey were held up by the police and having to take breaks, I'll just assume again that when they got to safety they got too drunk to care. Once again showing they were amateurs.

5. 6. Agreed. Guess he just hoped that would be the case as otherwise he'd have had no leads.

7. I'll skip this one

[–] mikebeljak 7 years ago

All the reasons not to watch nor recommend. Summed up nicely.