David Michod's The Rover is a well acted and produced dystopian thriller that stumbles over its contrived plot and monotonous tone. Guy Pearce portrays Eric, a sociopathic loner eking out an existence in the Outback after an undescribed societal breakdown. When his car is stolen, Pearce's character stops at nothing to retrieve it. Eric runs across Rey, brother to one of the miscreants who have stolen the car, and kidnaps the brain addled young man as a bargaining chip.
Predictably, the pair form a tenuous bond with the mentally challenged man helping his more cynical companion get back in touch with his humanity; as in Of Mice and Men and Rain Man. That this premise doesn't descend into icky goo here is a tribute to Mr. Michod and his talented stars: Robert Pattison is the put upon Rey. If anything, Mr. Michod over emphasizes the dark side, even the Mad Max films leavened its post-apocalyptic depravities with humor. When Eric lets slip that he murdered his wife and her lover, he admits that he is more shaken by the lack of consequences than his own actions. This strikes me as Michod trumpeting a theme, a world without a moral compass, that is already explicit in the narrative.
This would not prove fatal to the film if the scenario was consistent, but there are irritating lapses. When Eric confronts the thieves about his auto, they merely whack him on the noggin whereupon he shakes it off and continues the pursuit. When Rey rescues him from police custody amidst great carnage, the duo neglect to stock up with guns and ammo. These details don't jibe with the canine cannibalism Michod attempts to portray. Such details wouldn't detract as much from a more mythic film, but Michod is trying to make a spare, existential one.
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