All Gangster stories suffer implicit pitfalls. They are more or less predictable. The parable is biblical and similar. The man with a family is the weakest link.
Sam Mendes builds the plot of Road to Perdition, his follow up movie to the brilliant ‘American Beauty’ mostly around the classy vintage stylish cinematography of the legendary Conrad Hall. This movie will definitely go down Hollywood memory lane as a visually stunning, weak plotted, well directed, well edited, finely acted motion picture. Mr. Mendes deserves credit for being extremely frugal in his ambitions. He is well aware of the simplicity of the story and charms us to no end by keeping it just that way. He also seems to clearly understand that the picture has to look beautiful in order to make it enjoyable. This is one of the prettiest bloody movies from Hollywood in a long long time.
Tom Hanks is Michael Sullivan, a hitman for a powerful boss in the suburbs of Chicago. He is a devoted family man with two sons and a wife. His son’s curiosity about his father’s occupation triggers a chain of disastrous events that shatter his world. Now he has to plot revenge against the people who gave him grief. The story is narrated by the son who has to choose his way in the world.
Mr. Hanks has tried very hard indeed to be a hitman. The strain almost shows. The camera often comes to the rescue.
Paul Newman is a feared boss John Rooney who rules a small town around Chicago. He has a son who wants to take over and he has Michael Sullivan whom he brought up as a son. Mr. Newman is pretty well suited for his well written role and does a pretty good job.
Road to perdition is essentially a story for children that can only be enjoyed by them when they grow up.
Sam Mendes builds the plot of Road to Perdition, his follow up movie to the brilliant ‘American Beauty’ mostly around the classy vintage stylish cinematography of the legendary Conrad Hall. This movie will definitely go down Hollywood memory lane as a visually stunning, weak plotted, well directed, well edited, finely acted motion picture. Mr. Mendes deserves credit for being extremely frugal in his ambitions. He is well aware of the simplicity of the story and charms us to no end by keeping it just that way. He also seems to clearly understand that the picture has to look beautiful in order to make it enjoyable. This is one of the prettiest bloody movies from Hollywood in a long long time.
Tom Hanks is Michael Sullivan, a hitman for a powerful boss in the suburbs of Chicago. He is a devoted family man with two sons and a wife. His son’s curiosity about his father’s occupation triggers a chain of disastrous events that shatter his world. Now he has to plot revenge against the people who gave him grief. The story is narrated by the son who has to choose his way in the world.
Mr. Hanks has tried very hard indeed to be a hitman. The strain almost shows. The camera often comes to the rescue.
Paul Newman is a feared boss John Rooney who rules a small town around Chicago. He has a son who wants to take over and he has Michael Sullivan whom he brought up as a son. Mr. Newman is pretty well suited for his well written role and does a pretty good job.
Road to perdition is essentially a story for children that can only be enjoyed by them when they grow up.