There’s a lot of reasons to look forward to The Rover. Firstly, its director David Michod’s follow-up to the extremely successful and very well made Animal Kingdom, a film that I was really, really impressed by. Secondly, it stars two actors who are often overlooked: Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce.
Allow me to clarify that last comment. Yes, Pattinson is a mega-star but his acting talents are usually downplayed. Most critics don’t give him enough credit but if you’ve seen him in anything outside of Twilight, you’ll know that he’s quite a talented individual, capable of giving great performances. For all the backlash he gets for starring in the Twilight films, I actually really enjoy Pattinson as an actor and am very happy to see him taking on more mature, dramatic roles like this.
As for Pearce, he’s one of my favourite actors currently working today. I honestly love this guy. He definitely gets a decent amount of exposure and acclaim, but he’s not as high up on the A-list as he should be. Seriously, Pearce kills it in every role and I absolutely love watching him on screen. He’s a brillaint actor and I’m hoping his role in the upcoming Iron Man 3 will propel his star even higher.
But I digress. Back to The Rover, the existential western is set in the near future, “where fortunes can be made and where it’s every man for himself.” Taking place against the backdrop of the financial collapse, the film follows “a man who goes on a journey across the Australian outback to find his stolen car, which contains something invaluable to him.”
“You put cars in the desert in Australia and people are going to think of ‘Mad Max,’ ” the director said to EW. “And with all due respect to that film — and I stress that — I think ‘The Rover’ is going to be way more chillingly authentic and menacing. The basic story is really quite elemental,” says Michôd. “You’ve got a really dark, dangerous, murderous person in Guy’s character, and in Rob’s character you have a quite troubled and damaged, but beautiful and naïve, soul.”
Excited yet? We sure are. And can you blame us? The trio of Michod, Pattinson and Pearce is an extremely promising one and that first look photo above looks great, I can’t wait to see the two actors face off against each other.
What do you think? Does The Rover excite you as much as it excites us? Looking forward to seeing Pattinson in something other than Twilight? Let us know in the comments below.