| |
Like Chicago, and Mendes’ pervious work American
Beauty, Road to Perdition is a supposedly moral
tale that tells us what kind of person we ought not to be. (An
idea which, frankly, is kind of getting tired.) Michael Sullivan
(Tom Hanks) is a hit man, who travels the road with his son, taking
vengeance on the people who killed the rest of his family. This
is basically a gangster revenge story.
Mendes’ cinematography is absolutely beautiful. Its dark
beauty sets a definite tone for the rest of the film. It’s
reminiscent of Tim Burton’s work on the earlier Batman movies,
except that it’s all the more realistic and haunting. Given
that Road to Perdition is based on a graphic novel, it
really presents the feel of a superior quality comic book.
Hanks presents us with yet another nuanced performance, while
we also get strong performances from the supporting cast in Stanley
Tucci, Paul Newman and Jude Law. The score is equally strong and
adds to environment of the film.
Sullivan doesn’t want his son to follow in his footsteps,
and in the son’s monologue after the film we are told that
that was his primary concern. We never really get that idea, however,
from his actions. Instead of maybe taking off and rebuilding life
in some obscure part of the country, Sullivan stays in Chicago
to rob and then kill his enemies.
In a film that deals a lot with father-son relationships, we never
get anything significant out of them. Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin)
never learns anything from his father except to not kill people.
Similarly, nothing significant happens in the parallel relationship
of John Rooney (Paul Newman) and Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig)
except for John’s protection of his son, despite the fact
that Connor is stealing from him.
Given that perdition is another word for Hell, Hell itself is
a theme. At one point Rooney Sr. tells Sullivan that both of them
are going to Hell and that there’s nothing Sullivan can
do now but help keep his son from going there. Admitting that
he is indeed going to Hell, you would think that Sullivan would
have a change of heart and change his ways hoping to curb his
Judgment, but nothing of the sort takes place.
|
|
|
