I both read the book and watched the film.
I've heard other people say the film was utterly depressing, but I didn't feel that way about it.
***spoiler warning.....
I felt that the inclusion of the family at the end offered something more to the film. The ending, in my opinion, negated the despair that was present throughout the rest of the film. There in the ending is the possibility: a community/family exists. There is potential to rebuild a society, to re-create a family.. it also speaks to creating a family where biological connection doesn't exist (and you have to envision/follow through with what's presented in the film, as it's not explained in a straightforward way or a concrete way at all..)
when I read the book, I didn't get that feeling, but it seemed to be a little more emphatic in the film.
It's a pretty emotional film, though, and the scenes in the beginning, where the mother commits suicide indirectly made me raving mad.
Another specific thing that ticked me off was it was another one of those stupid movie birth moments... like birth is fast and scary and doesn't take hours.
The road does make you think about people, and i totally disagree with what CM seems to be saying about 'human nature' but the movie makes the viewer wonder all those fun what-ifs.. how would one survive under those circumstances, etc.
For me it was a rare occasion to like the movie more than the book, but this was one of those.
