On Less is Less with The Rover

The Rover (or Dude, Where’s My Car?) is a stripped back, visual and primitive film experience. The direction is stark, as is the landscape and the acting is designed to feel instinctive rather than active. Little is said and what is said is rarely explorative of the characters, simply reflecting a need to speak, rather than a desire to. In fact much of The Rover is about needs and not desires. The characters (of whom there are few) need something from each other and reach for it directly. There is no double talk or hidden agendas here. In this way it reflects the ideologies of the straight talking western hero, much like the intertextual reference Mad Max (1979) a clear point of inspiration. Both films are future dystopian westerns where life is easy to loose.

All of this makes for appealing advertising. The Rover looks good and in small bites can be made to sound good. The actors are talented and Guy Pearce carries the film by making it seem like he is doing very little when in fact he is displaying great talent. He is a lost wanderer, like the title suggests and, as with the direction, Pearce understands that with The Rover less is more. But unfortunately with the narrative less is less. The script reveals little throughout and offers nothing at the end, making its sparse narrative exasperating not intelligent. In fact, the end reveal could render much of what came before frustrating if you let it. Instead, there is a lot to enjoy in The Rover as a visual piece, just not as a narrative one.