A TRULY MAJESTIC ROAD (Road to Perdition (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Road to Perdition (DVD)
Date:	10/05/03 (148 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great story , Brilliantly made, Great acting

Disadvantages: A little slow at times

Oh well, thar she blows, my hundredth opinion. It may as well be on one of my favourite subjects - movies - and on a film that really moved me. Thanks for all the reads and supports in the past!



Sam Mendes is arguably best known for American Beauty, a rapier-like thrust into the underbelly of middle-class suburban America. Road to Perdition takes a leaf from a very similar book both in style and presentation. The good news is that an already successful formula works a very worthy magic in a truly majestic piece of film-making of the highest calibre.
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Principal Cast:

Tom Hanks .... Michael Sullivan
Paul Newman .... John Rooney
Jude Law .... Harlen Maguire
Jennifer Jason Leigh .... Annie Sullivan
Tyler Hoechlin .... Michael Sullivan, Jr
Liam Aiken .... Peter Sullivan
Daniel Craig .... Connor Rooney
Ciarán Hinds .... Finn McGovern
Rob Maxey .... Drugstore Owner

Director....Sam Mendes
Writing Credits....Max Allan Collins and
Richard Piers Rayner
Screen Play....John Self
Cert: 15
Running Time: 117 mins
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The story is set in 1931 prohibition America. Tom Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a quietly efficient hit man working for the local criminal gang leader, John Rooney played by Paul Newman. Sullivan deals with his job with a steely determination earning him his nickname of the "Angel of Death". Whilst his wife knows what he does, both of his sons, Michael and Liam, are kept blissfully unaware of their father's activities.

With an air of inevitability, Michael junior follows his father by hiding in the back of his car. Looking through a crack, he observes the psychopathic, Connor Rooney, son of John Rooney, commit a cold blooded murder. Backing hi
m up, Michael senior blows away the entourage meant to protect the murdered man, which proves all too much for his son. In his haste to escape the scene unfolding in front of him, Michael senior catches Michael junior with Connor an interested onlooker.

In the absence of any ethics, Connor takes it upon himself to silence Sullivan junior. In a dramatic scene set against a stormy background, Connor strolls into the Sullivan house and without any inhibition, guns down Sullivan's wife and other son. Unbeknown to him, Michael junior has seen everything including the fact that the bullets were meant for him and not his brother.

Hanks returns home to find that most of his family have been wiped out. Vowing revenge, he embarks on a journey of callous retribution whilst, at the same time, looking to protect his remaining son from any further attempts on his life.

Having realised to some consternation what his son has done, John Rooney employs Harlen Macguire (Jude Law) to kill Hanks before he can take his revenge.

Mendes once again directs on a number of levels. What appears to be a straightforward story of revenge turns into so much more when the audience is invited to think about the inner meaning of the story. Whilst the road to Perdition is intended to be the physical route taken by the Sullivans to deliver Michael junior into the safe hands of his aunt, the parallel on a different level is drawn out by the desperation of a father to stop his son taking a similar path to what appears to be an inferred hell (hence another ambiguos title a la American Beauty). Religious undertones abound as the Irish John Rooney struggles with the nature of what he does and the implications of what might happen after he dies. At one point he confronts Hanks set against a non-coincidental church setting to proclaim that none of the principal characters will make it to heaven.

Hanks is a revelation as Michael Sullivan. Playing a relatively u
nfamiliar role he carries off the part of an understated, quiet man who has few opportunities to smile. The paradox of a cold, clinical killer is beautifully portrayed as the disparate contrast to a father who obviously cares deeply about his family. Newman excels as the father-like overlord. His rapport with Hanks transcends most of the other scenes as the surrogate patriarchal feelings he has for Hanks are made plain, even to the point of welcoming his own execution at the hands of his protégé.

Jude Law plays something of a curious role of a professional killer with the twist that he photographs his victims. His almost serial-killer approach is well conveyed in yet another step forward in an impressive run of convincing displays from a very talented actor.

Conrad Hall's cinematography is simply stunning. 1930s America is faithfully re-created both in it's prohibition 1930s down town Chicago form as well as the more rural settings for parts of the movie revolving around the Sullivans' dash for freedom. To finance the road trip, the Sullivans resort to robbing banks and that pre-second World War feeling is perfectly formed through some impressive sets. The comparisons with American Beauty are obvious. A combination of dark lighting and heavy rain back drops provide the catalyst for a number of suitably noir scenes. An impressive example is towards the end of the movie when John Rooney along with his accompanying henchmen are despatched by the central character. This almost gunslinger scenario is crowned by the site of Hanks coming out of the shadows whereby initially the viewer can only see the white blaze of his machine gun firing.

Thomas Newman and John L Williams provide the atmospheric music that, again, draw comparisons with the slow, tinkling effect that supply the pensive mood for a number of the scenarios.

If there is a criticism, it's that the movie is slow in parts. Due to the nature of the story, violen
ce is never very far away and it's graphic depiction means that the audience doesn't have too long to ponder between shootings. Just like American Beauty, Road to Perdition has a poingnent ending that emphasises the route that the director decided to take. With something of a ponderous reflection of father and son relationships, Michael junior pontificates as to whether his father was a good or a bad man having got to know him on this highly eventful roadtrip. Here, in essence, lies the moral. Rather than being simply a gangster movie, Road to Pedition is actually a road trip based on childhood during which a boy becomes a man in tragic circumstances. Having posed the question, an answer seems almost immaterial. After all, he was, above all, his father.

Highly recommended

Thanks for reading

Marandina

DVD available through Amazon for £13.49.(Features audio commentary by the director/deleted scenes with optional commentary/HBO special: The making of Road to Perdition/CD soundtrack trailer/Photo gallery/Cast & Film maker Biographics/Production notes/Scene access & Interactive menus)
Video retails at £11.69

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