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Road to Perdition
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law,
Tyler Hoechlin |
| MPAA Rated: |
R |
| Released By: |
Dreamworks Pictures /
20th Century Fox |
| Web Site: |
www.roadtoperdition.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
Leave them at
home. |
| Date Movie: |
It's a heavy drama
with ugly violence. She might get scared and snuggle. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
There is a scene
in a bar/brothel, but nothing gratuitous. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Lots of people get
killed and it's pretty graphic. |
| Action: |
Not really. |
| Laughs: |
There is a
chuckle, especially when Sullivan is robbing banks. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
The entire movie
is one, big, memorable scene. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Sullivan to the
bank manager: "Always trust a bank manager." |
| Directed By: |
Sam Mendes |
| Produced By: |
Richard Zanuck,
Dean Zanuck, Sam Mendes |
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Road to Perdition
A Movie Review |
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Everybody was making a big fuss about Tom Hanks being
a bad guy. "Is it a bad move?" "Will his fans be disappointed?" "Can
he even play a bad guy?" Sure, in "Road to Perdition," Tom Hanks is
basically a mob henchman, killing people, or at least tuning them up,
whenever boss John Rooney (Paul Newman) directs him, but I found him
more like a Tony Soprano than an evil killer. He does what he does,
doesn’t really like it but accepts his lot in life, but the love for
his family will always come first. Maguire (Jude Law) and Connor
Rooney (Daniel Craig) are really the bad guys, and bad guys they are.
The rundown of the story goes like this…
Tom Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, devoted to John Rooney who
basically raised him as his own son. But John does have his own son in
the likes of Connor. One night Michael’s son, aptly enough Michael Jr.
(played fantastically by Tyler Hoechlin), hides in his father’s car to
see what Dad does for a living. Unfortunately he witnesses Dad and
Connor tune-up an associate, Connor go a little overboard, and now
it’s a bloodbath. Michael assures John and Connor that little Jr. can
keep his mouth shut, but Michael quickly figures out, after being
double-crossed and seeing his wife and other son dead on the bathroom
floor, that he has to figure out a way to save Jr. So it’s off to
Chicago.
After trying to make a deal with an associate of Al Capone, Frank
Nitti (Stanley Tucci), and further realizing that he really can’t
trust anyone, Michael hopes he can at least save Jr. by taking him to
an Aunt’s house, in Perdition. Sadly, though, the mob has hired
Maguire, a twisted photographer who likes to take pictures of dead
people, a lot of times him doing the killing, to track down father and
son and kill them. So Michael is trying to elude Maguire, figures out
a plan to have the price on Connor’s head higher than his own by
robbing banks sheltering Al Capone’s money, and in the meantime
connect with his son who is finally spending some quality time with
Dad.
The key to any movie is usually the acting, and you really couldn’t
have asked for better than what you get in "Road to Perdition." Hanks,
again, does a fabulous job as the mob enforcer who now has one goal –
to save his son from a life like his. Jude Law is great as the creepy
Maguire, complete with rotting teeth and evil grin. Newman does one of
his best acting jobs in years, torn between saving the son he wished
he had and the son he does have, and Hoechlin is great as the son who
at first doesn’t understand how Dad can be so evil, then realizing
what Dad does is wrong, but not evil.
The one thing "Road to Perdition" lacks is action, and that’s okay
if you go into the movie expecting that. It’s a full blown drama, with
some quality kills that impact you as they should, and some touching
moments between father and son. I really liked the movie, and I
understand how some critics gave it a little lesser rating, but for me
this was a 5 star movie about the love of family and the brutality of
the mob.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
