The Good Road

Let's not compare movies here, for God's sake. The Lunchbox is a fine authentic movie. The Good Road is adventurous, rusty & indigenous. But, to be frank, the epistolary drama would've had a better chance at Oscars.

Talking about three partially inter-connected stories, The Good Road moves with a gradual pace. A kid accidentally left out in a local diner as his parents swoosh off in their jeep, a small girl trying to get to her granny & an illegal deal involving two cocky truck drivers - the story connects at the end chafing the low story-depth it had carved since the beginning. The implications are high & vague at the same time, as the plot talks about parents' carelessness towards their children during trips, corruption among policemen, how hapless truck drivers get involved into illegal deals, how young women get lured into whorehouses & regard it as their homes in a fore-course and it is the will of a person that drives him/her towards something. Out of line, the plot concentrates on the story of the kid & the truck drivers & ounce of humanity that joins them together.

Now, all this is told in a slightly rough manner. It totally depends on the viewer, given the DVD English subtitles suck to core & are inappropriate, too. Apart from that, the cinematography & direction is fine. Cast performance by seemingly amateur actors is okay. Dialog delivery is great, so is the music. Locations are fine.

I am disappointed with the camera work & editing, though, mostly as the lighting works against it. Summing it all up, The Good Road is an average road flick which tries hard to succeed harnessing innocence of children, yet ends up as a partial winner.

BOTTOM LINE: An average afternoon-watch flick, not to be taken seriously. As a matter fact, some elements also seem to be cooked-up. And about the Oscar, Indians can expect another loss at a time when countries like Pakistan are leaving no stone unturned to send a film for the first time in 50 years. 6.2 out of 10!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity: Very Strong | Vulgarity/Nudity: No | Violence: Mild | Gore: No | Alcohol/Drugs: No | Smoking: Mediocre | Porn: No