Attention
All Oscar Pool Participants:
I know what all of you
are thinking. “Look at this movie,” you think. “Tom Hanks, Paul Newman,
how can it possibly fail to be good? I will remember it, so that when I
chip in to next year’s Oscar office pool, Jen will once again lose all
of her money. As she does every year. Because she foolishly selects the
movies she thought were good as possible contenders for the golden doorstop.”
Next year, true to form, I can only imagine that I’ll be watching the Academy
Awards (official motto: 'We get paid by the hour') and I’ll see a lot of
statues going to this movie. And next year, true to form, I’ll be scratching
my head in bewilderment and yelling at the screen that the wrong movie
is taking everything home.
Road
to Perdition is the story of Michael O’Sullivan, a devoted family man,
and mafia assassin. Wearing the face of the father and husband at home,
and the hit man at work begins to take it’s toll however when O’Sullivan’s
son witnesses his Dad in action. After his wife and youngest boy are murdered,
the 'Angel of Death' takes his only family on the run.
Tom Hanks (Apollo 13,
You’ve
Got Mail) plays the conflicted O’Sullivan. Here, though Hanks is interesting
to watch, the script fails him. His role, rather than coming across as
a distant Dad, is more of a non-entity, cold and detached from everyone
around him. While the frigidity of his family relationships gives him some
depth as a character, it does at times push O’Sullivan into a realm of
unlikeability (i.e. when he first spots his son at a murder scene, he doesn’t
attempt to comfort him, he simply yells at the poor boy). Hanks’ previous
roles hamper him in this particular case as well, as he is adored as the
sweetheart, and I found myself either missing any aura of menace from this
man, or unconsciously choosing to overlook it. There were some nice moments
of O’Sullivan showing pity for his victims, and deliciously awkward flashes
of him attempting to reach out to his son, but ultimately it’s not enough
to make Hanks’ character one to enjoy.
Paul Newman (Cool Hand
Luke, Nobody’s Fool) plays O’Sullivan’s employer; John Rooney.
This character is one that had the potential to be interesting, but isn’t
given nearly enough screen time. Like Hanks, Newman is a man who is hard
to see as a ruthless villain (1. Because he is so amiable and 2. Because
he has the most friendly, sparkling blue eyes in the whole wide world).
His bigger, more genial roles (like Butch Cassidy) are infinitely better
constructed, and will stick in my mind long after “Road to Perdition” has
disappeared from my theatre. My big problem with Newman in this role have
nothing to do with his performance, and much more to do with the fact that
he is far too good for the part. His short splurts onscreen are so magnetic
that I found myself disappointed every time he wandered out of viewing.
Jude Law (GATTACA,
Love,
Honour, and Obey) stars as the ghoulish photographer/homicidal maniac,
Maguire. Here, out of any of the parts of this film, lies the one man who
truly deserves to be noticed. Law’s Maguire is charismatic, and attractively
devilish. He is also one of the most ridiculously lovely men working in
Hollywood today. Despite the fact that the filmmakers saw fit to make him
a balding man, with yellow teeth, and a paunch, he is still drop dead gorgeous.
His mischievous eyes, and whiskey scratched voice make him incredibly
hard to look away from. Law has all of the intensity of a young Malcolm
McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and has really sunk his teeth into
this part.
The sin of this movie
is that if the script had been enveloped with heart, it would have had
the potential to compete with The Untouchables as one of the best
films of it’s genre. Instead though, I found myself in a similar
frame of mind to that in which I found myself after watching A. I. :
Artificial Intelligence. That being that the performances were good,
the scenery was beautiful, but the tone was so cold that you really didn’t
become attached to anyone in the film (The exception in both cases being
Jude Law). Road to Perdition seems to be depending only on it’s
pedigree (which is admittedly impressive) to grab the viewers attention.
What director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) is overlooking is the
fact that it takes heroes, and villains with heart, however blurry their
ethics to make a good story. On the strength of getting to watch Jude Law
at play, I will recommend a viewing at your local theatre’s cheap night,
but not much other than that.
Jen
Johnston
In
the opening sequence of Road to Perdition by Sam Mendes, 12-year
old Michael Sullivan, Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) talks about his father (Tom
Hanks) who is a hit man for the mob. The older Sullivan works for aging
crime boss John Rooney (Paul Newman), a formidable figure in mob circles
who rules Chicago "like God rules the Earth". The film is about organized
crime during the heyday of Al Capone but is also a touching coming-of-age
story about an emotionally distant father and the son he must connect with
in order to survive. Rooney, in a great performance by Paul Newman, helped
raise Sullivan when he was orphaned and acts like a grandfather to his
children. He is torn, however, between taking care of his business interests,
protecting his own son Connor (Daniel Craig), and maintaining his close
relationship with Sullivan. When these come into conflict, the results
are lethal.
Young
Michael yearns for a relationship with his dad who is aloof and determined
not to have his son follow in his footsteps. Michael is curious about his
father's job and one night sees his father participate in a gangland murder.
When one murder leads to another, Sullivan is forced to use the youngster
to help him exact revenge. Father and son set out on a cross-country odyssey
robbing the banks where Capone's illegal money is deposited. To survive
on the run, they must contend not only with Rooney, but his trigger-happy
son Connor and Maguire (Jude Law), a creepy hired assassin who enjoys taking
pictures of dead people. Michael is willing to help because he needs his
father's approval and, in the 31-day adventure that follows, the two form
an unbreakable bond.
Road to Perdition
is restrained but never cold and both Hanks and Newman bring so much humanity
to their roles that their characters have a rare depth. Backed by a lovely
score by Thomas Newman, the photography of the late cinematographer Conrad
Hall captures the mood of sombre intensity in its depiction of the rain-soaked
Chicago streets and the loneliness of the mid-western landscape. Road
to Perdition is not the Godfather Four but a unique character
study that will stand the test of time.
Howard
Schumann
