Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
tfmiltz
This was a troubling experience to witness.I had no idea what it would be about.Key concepts are - loss of innocence.And the scene where Tom Hanks locks away his weapons It was most painful to witness the loss of innocence by his son.Some Star Wars - find out what Daddy does for a living elements here.Good ole Darth - eh- depends on what day you catch him on I guess.I am only 1/4 way through the movie by the way writing this :) HIGHLY RECOMMEND SO FAR?
NateWatchesCoolMovies
Sam Mendes's Road To Perdition reads like Oscar bait on the surface, but it's anything but once it gets down to business. Based on a downbeat graphic novel, it's a dark and tragic downward spiral of violence, betrayal and crime with beautifully acted characters and burnished, shadowy cinematography that brings the pages of the book to life in moody, snow blanketed detail. Tom Hanks, taking a chance and playing a rougher character for once in his goody two shoes career, is Michael Sullivan, enforcer for small town Irish mob boss John Rooney, played with force and feeling by Paul Newman in his final cinematic outing. Rooney treats Sullivan like a son, as his own offspring (Daniel Craig, cast way against type and loving it) is an insidious, hateful psychopath. After Craig needlessly murders a subordinate (Ciaran Hinds) and Sullivan's youngest son (Taylor Hoechlin, excellent) inadvertently witnesses it, Sullivan is left no choice but to go on the run after his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and youngest child (Liam Aiken) are subsequently slaughtered. The rift that forms between Hanks and Newman is tough to watch, a paternal relationship soured by the ugliness of the lives they live, violence finding its way in and grabbing hold of any goodness that once was, like it always does. Forced to seek help from infamous Chicago gangster Frank Nitti (Stanley Tucci), Sullivan soon finds himself on his own and fast becoming a vigilante with a short life span amongst the underworld, especially when a dangerous assassin (a rodent like Jude Law) is dispatched to kill him. Sullivan knows his way around both a pistol and a tommy gun though, and won't go down in a hail without raising hellfire first. There's a calmness to the action scenes, the most hectic of which is accompanied by no sound effects whatsoever, just simply a lyrical piece of the score, cushioning the violence with mood instead of hammering us with the sound of bullets. It's a revenge piece, no doubt, but it's also a careful treatise on how a parent's actions and choices can affect their young, and in cases of extreme peril or trauma, sometimes bring them closer together where there once was distance. My only real issue with the film is the casting of Jennifer Jason Leigh, a unique, mesmerizing force on camera whose talents are wasted here in the throwaway wife role, getting to do basically nothing. There's a deleted scene featuring Anthony Lapaglia as lively Al Capone, which is not in the final film but can be found on YouTube. Hanks and Newman anchor the film respectively, as hard, determined men who would rather see things go in a more agreeable way, but have both left each other no choice other than willfully striding towards bitter ends. There's an eerie poetry in that which the film captures perfectly.
edwagreen
After viewing this film, Paul Newman should have known to call it a career. His craggy voice and demeanor make it appear that he could not wait to say his lines and move on.An eerie film gives you a good sense via cinematography of the early 1930s America.All hell breaks loose when the son of Tom Hanks sees him rub out an associate. Paul Newman's son, played by Daniel Craig, attempts to wipe out Hanks and his family and succeeds by killing his wife and youngest son. Jennifer Jason Leigh briefly appears as Hanks wife before she is rubbed out. How fortunate for her to be out of the picture so early on in the film.The rest of the film is devoted to Hanks and his son running from the Craig character. Hanks resorts to stealing mob money from the banks to smoke out the Craig and his gang. Newman tries to depict an elderly, but compassionate mob head, who felt that Hanks was a son to him, but loyalty is loyalty and therefore Hanks has got to go.
