Before I start, let me warn you: This may look more like a huge rant rather than an actual review. But rest assured, if you too saw this movie then you would feel it neccessary to rant on and on about it. Yeah. The movie. The glorious piece of artwork that we so humbly refer to as a movie. Road to Perdition starts off paced and filmed like any other flick: and introduction to the characters, the birth of a plotline, etc. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Mike Sullivan is a hitman for John Rooney, the local mafia boss. On one seeminly normal night of mofia crime, Mike Sullivan is sent to "talk" to a man giving Mr. Rooney trouble, apparently. Michael Jr., Sullivan's son decides to tag along in the trunk of the car, only to witness several acts of mofia aggression. Tom Hanks' character, Sullivan, is not actually a bad guy, just a feared right hand man of the boss. The real villain is the boss' son, a crazed lunatic who is stealing from his father and truly behind all the confusion in Mr. Rooney's business. It's this guy who kills Sullivan's wife and Michael Jr.'s brother while Michael Jr. just barely escapes. Sullivan comes home to find his house ravaged and his son still alive, so he must do all he can to keep his son alive. From then on the plot progresses as the mafia hunts down the Sullivans in an epic tale. An enthralling story line indeed. However, the real gem lies in not only the acting but the direction. Hanks works that shit like he fucking is Mike Sullivan. Jude Law, the sadistic freak who hunts down Sullivan throughout the movie is also excellent, playing a perfect fetish psycho. Props also to Paul Newman, who just may be an Irish mofia boss.
Now, the screenplay. So hard is it to describe in the limited english vocabulary that I might just have to order you to go see this movie. But I will try, dammit. My epiphany occurred about halfway through the movie, during a scene in a diner. Hanks is quietly munching down on his dinner, while Jude Law's character has a hunch on where his prey may be. He takes a seat at the table across, facing Hanks. The two make smalltalk, until Hanks inquires as to what Jude Law's character does for a living. "I shoot the dead." Silence. What the fuck does that mean? Just what the hell is wrong with this guy? Of course, he goes on to clear up this matter and explains that he photographs corpses. But as he is slowly describing his love for cadavers, a close-up on his face reveals rotteed away, yellowed teeth. Pale, clammy skin. Chapped, gnarled lips and grotesquely long fingernails. The camera switches to Hank's pretty mug. As Law goes into minute detail about the deceased, a single trickle of nervous sweat falls from his brow. Goosebumps arise on his neck. He looks at this man in disgust, and non-chalantly makes his way towards the bathroom, with a butter knife in his hand. |
