I didn’t know much about this film going in to it, and looking back, I should have read a quick synopsis as I was a little lost at the beginning. The Rover stars Guy Pearce, a down-on-his-luck average guy in a bleak Australian outback western-like setting. The opening credits say the movie takes place 10 years after “the collapse.” Collapse of what, it doesn’t say. After getting home and looking it up, I see it was a worldwide economic collapse, which makes sense in the context of the film. Governments seem to hold little to no power, goods are traded, and the only money people care about is the US $ (even in Australia) and even that is near worthless.
Anyway, to the story. Pearce is sitting in a bar when a truck crashes outside. 3 armed people get out, and, with their truck stuck, steal Pearce’s car and take off. Pearce gives chase, and what follows is a slightly bizarre, but extremely intense story. Pearce teams up with one of the burglar’s brothers, a mentally challenged man played by Robert Pattinson. The two make their way through a land with few cops and no laws, and if this whole thing sounds a little Mad Max-ish, it has that definite look and feel.
It’s a pretty satisfying film, all the way to the conclusion when you see why Pearce wanted his car so bad. The acting by both Pearce and Pattinson is stellar. I knew Pearce had it in him, Memento remains one of my favorites, but this is only the second film I’m seen Pattinson in (I’m a little outside the Twilight films’ demographic), and I thought Water for Elephants was just “ok”. The Rover is edge-of-your-seat gripping, in the theater I found myself inching forward several times. A solid film.
Jons Movie Takes 