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ROAD TO PERDITION

by Gordon

Directed by: Sam Mendes
Released: 2002
Rating: R [violence and language]
Runtime: 117 min.
Main Cast: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%                    IMDB: 7.8/10

 

   Road to Perdition is an epic movie. Mendes’ follow-up to American Beauty (perhaps an equal masterpiece), it captures mob culture and that of the 1930s Great Depression with both impeccable clarity and a fresh pair of eyes. It’s not a feel-good movie, nor a feel-bad one…just a mesmerizing story of family, betrayal, vengeance and hope, set to a backdrop that embraces imagery over dialogue to convey emotion. The story is made all the more memorable through timeless performances from its all-star cast. And for a story of its complexity, some plot will be useful for a review, so…spoiler alert.

   Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a mob enforcer and the adopted son of Irish mob boss John Rooney (Newman). To Sullivan’s two boys, “Mr. Rooney” is an authoritative but good-hearted grandfather figure, if a little mysterious. For Sullivan’s older son, Michael, Jr., any uncertainty surrounding the nature of his father’s work is dispelled when he witnesses the impulsive murder of a mob employee by Connor Rooney (Craig), John Rooney’s real son. Upon discovering the young witness, Connor murders Michael’s wife and younger son (mistaking him for the older Michael, Jr.). That’s when Sullivan and his son flee to Chicago.

   It’s not until halfway through the movie that we’re welcomed to Jude Law’s character, the creepy and unkempt psycopathic assassin Harlen Maguire, who is dispatched by crime kingpin Frank Nitti to take out Sullivan and his son when Sullivan’s request to kill Connor is rejected. Realizing Nitti has sided against him, Sullivan and his son rob banks of Rooney’s and their partners’ laundered money. It is here that Sullivan and his son, formerly mere strangers living under the same roof, begin to bond and appreciate each other as support in the wake of their family’s loss. A second failed attempt to take the Sullivans’ lives results in Maguire falling, glass fragments shattering his face, and Sullivan taking a bullet to the arm. The two seek refuge at a country farm owned by an elderly childless couple. It’s here that Sullivan discovers Connor’s faulty business dealings with his father John Rooney back home. After Sullivan’s recuperation, the two set out, leaving the elderly couple a bag of money as they go.

   This is when Sullivan, now a considerably more threatening presence, comes back to finish things with the mob he left behind. He meets with his “father” John Rooney once again, who is both aware that Sullivan won’t stop until Connor is dead, and understandably unwilling to give up his own son. As Sullivan has grown to be the son Rooney wished he had, it is with a heavy heart that he takes this stance. Reflection on the warm relationship between Sullivan and his adoptive father (tenderly conveyed in an early scene as the two share a piano duet in the hushed company of onlookers) makes the ensuing standoff between the two a mournful occurrence.

   From there, business appears finished for Sullivan and his son, Michael, Jr., though a surprise twist belies that fact. But while I betrayed the plot of the better part of the film, its ending is deserving of a treatment only achieved through firsthand experience. I will say, though, that it’s an ending as suspenseful, meaningful, and ultimately bittersweet as the rest of the movie.

   All in all it’s a triumph of a movie, deserving, I feel, higher praise than even the high praise already bestowed upon it. With great performances all around, it’s especially nice to appreciate the fine acting of Paul Newman in a great role (not as easy for my generation), as well as seeing Jude Law step out of his prettyboy persona to play an ugly, menacing killer. A huge nod to my favorite composer as well, Thomas Newman, for adding tremendously to the feel of the movie with his emotionally-driven score. Mendes has created a film as timelessly praiseworthy as the story it enfolds.

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Filed under daniel craig, jennifer jason leigh, jude law, paul newman, sam mendes, stanley tucci, tom hanks