Hey folks, Harry here.... You know my take on ROAD TO PERDITION, I've one thing to add... If you like Paul Newman's character in ROAD TO PERDITION, then I implore you to seek out Lionel Barrymore's stunning turn as Gregory Peck's father in DUEL IN THE SUN. Just brilliant work there. Anyways, here's Massawyrm with one of those rough assemblages of letters upon a page...
GANGSTER! GANSTERS! HOLY SHIT MOTHERFUCKING GANGST…oh…that’s obviously cliché now…
Hola all. Everyone’s favorite, much maligned Chain-smoking, Dr. pepper Swilling, indie schilling lover of all thing Kate Bosworth here with a look at this summers slow burn gangster film “Road to Perdition”. This Friday we’re being offered a real summer treat, two exquisitely made films that both nicely fit the summer mold and then surreptitiously break it. They’re both very sneaky. Both present themselves as genre films that look like they could easily go the way of the usual summer blockbuster fare, but instead prove to be higher minded and more character driven than most of their contemporaries. The first of these is of course “Reign of Fire” which I wrote about earlier this week. The second, and more subtle and sublime of the two, is Road to Perdition.
First of all I’d like to address the whole Godfather comparison being brought up in the ads for this. If you’ve seen this comparison in the spots or in the paper, IGNORE IT. It was written by a fool who may have, and I stress MAY HAVE, seen the Godfather. The only thing that these two have in common is gangsters. They’re not even the same type of gangsters. The Godfather is completely old world Italian mafia in the new world while Road to Perdition is New World Irish Mob. No comparison whatsoever. These films have different styles, different takes on the world and different agendas. Do not go to this film looking for a Godfather style gangster film. You won’t find it here.
What you will find is something closer to James Cagney’s “Angels with Dirty Faces” that still, despite the similarities, is it’s own beast altogether. Both films deal with gangster Sullivans’ that find themselves betrayed at the hands of their associates, but spends a great deal of time focusing upon the ramifications of their actions on the children around them.
But what sets this film apart is the overwhelming amount of thematic elements discussing the nature of fatherhood. If you boil this film down to its most basic parts, you end up with a period revenge film; but Road to Perdition is more than just that. It’s much more. It offers up a bevy of deep, brooding characters struggling with loyalties, honor and family in the midst of a very messy situation.
There are so many things I love about this film. I love the use of violence. Sometimes brutal and unflinching, sometimes quiet and melancholic. I love the score. Somber, brooding, ominous and melodic. And I love the rain. How I love Mendes’ use of rain in this film. I love the way it looks, the way it sounds and the way it feels. The use of rain in this film is more evocative here than in any film in recent years.
But most importantly, I love the performances. Tom Hanks is riveting. This isn’t the family friendly Tom Hanks we’re accustomed to. This is a reinvented Tom Hanks, a dark Tom Hanks filled with quiet menace, a Tom Hanks with a real shot at that coveted third Oscar. He is at times both loving and kind while at others vicious and unmerciful. Watching the transition of his character is a thing of beauty. You see, the mark of a truly great actor is the ability to just stand there and be 100% convincingly “in-character”. Hanks does this brilliantly. Every moment he’s onscreen he’s conveying some type of emotion through his body language and facial expressions. When you see him in the second and third act, no matter what he’s doing, whether he’s eating, reading or just staring into space, you can clearly see he’s a broken man, a man who has lost almost everything. If you saw him sitting on the bus, without knowing a thing about him, you could discern as much just by the look he has. It’s that unbelievably convincing.
Then, of course, there’s Paul Newman. There’s no writing off Newman yet. I don’t care what he’s done in recent years, here he lights up the screen like he hasn’t done in over a decade. There is so much angst in this portrayal, so much sadness, that despite his role in Michael Sullivan’s downfall, you genuinely feel for him. And there is this moment, this one shining moment, where he slams his fist down and the audience literally hops up in their seats. Every eye in the room becomes transfixed on Newman and there isn’t a question as to who the boss is. Paul Newman’s John Rooney is powerful by his force of will, not because he has hired guns and Chicago behind him. An absolutely magical performance that I’m guessing will earn him a best supporting nod.
Jude Law turns in a great, demented performance worthy of his rep. This is the type of role that can be like salt to a meal. Too much of it and that’s all you taste. But here, Mendes uses Law to his fullest, giving us just a taste here and there to enhance the overall flavor of the film.
Mendes does a great job of putting this together and Conrad L. Hall does one of the finest jobs of his career shooting it for him. The painstaking attention to detail is marvelous. Sweat on the brow. Shadows. Reflections. They all paint crisp noir images that resound with mood and emotion. The shots are chosen brilliantly. Mendes never shows us anything we don’t have to see. He uses static shots during certain points of action, allowing the characters to wander off screen and have an encounter we don’t need to see. We simply feel it. He uses silence at times to shout. It’s simply a wonderful structure.
Together Mendes and Hall paint such beautiful pictures. This film is a visual knockout.
The only flaw here, and there seems to be only one, is that the ending is telegraphed to the audience too early. Unlike Lester Burnham’s sudden shock of a death in American Beauty, which is a death foretold at the beginning of the film that we as an audience wanted to forget about, this ending creeps up on you as well as a slow thunderstorm. You see it miles off and you just wish you didn’t. You’d rather you’d been surprised. But you won’t be. It’s still a great ending, but you know it had to happen like it did minutes before it does.
Mendes has a knack for making the unlikable - lovable. You only hate one of his characters when you’re absolutely supposed to, despite the fact that most of them have traits that would make them seem repugnant. He did so with American beauty, he does so here. You will love Mike Sullivan. You will love John Rooney. You will love Road to Perdition.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em. I know I will.
Massawyrm
