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This face-off thrills!
Road To Perdition is chillingly haunting
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Arthur J Pais
"Sons are put on this earth to trouble their fathers," growls mob boss John Rooney.
His son Connor is more than a troublesome man. He resents his father's affection for the surrogate son Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), but the resentment and jealousy take a dangerous turn when Sullivan's older son watches Connor kill a troublemaker --- and his father not reluctantly opening fire to ward off would-be attackers..
Though Sullivan, who had hidden from his sons the fact that he worked for a gang leader, swears the boy to secrecy, Connor (Daniel Craig) will not take a risk with the potential squealer. In one of the many ironic scenes in the brilliantly made, utterly compelling atmospheric thriller, Connor slips into Sullivan's home only to kill the wrong boy and his mother.
Sullivan now begins a run from Connor with his son. Meanwhile, John Rooney (Paul Newman) has to choose between his own son and the surrogate. The choice is one of the most intense and intriguing scenes in the movie that is much more than a thriller or a gangster drama.
In Road To Perdition, scriptwriter David Self and director Sam Mendes offer a drama about corruption of souls, betrayals of the highest kind, and in the final reckoning, a story of redemption. It is not just Rooney who has to make soul-corroding choices. Sullivan too has to decide if he can let go the murders of his younger son and wife --- and start a new life.
Road To Perdition assumes even more urgency as the Rooneys let loose freelance assassin Maguire (Jude Law) after Sullivan. In one of the most chilling scenes in the film, Maguire and Sullivan meet for the first time at a roadside coffee shop. You expect an immediate shootout, but what you get is a very scary encounter that leads to a shooting.
By then, Sullivan and his son (a very promising Tyler Hatchling) are out of harm's way.
Self and Mendes maintain a full grip over the proceedings, even when they inject humour into the film as Sullivan and his son set out to rob the banks making sure only the money hoarded by the likes of Al Capone is stolen. The young Sullivan cannot even reach the steering of the car, but he rises to the occasion as he drives the car after the heist and helps his father continue in his quest for vendetta.
Road To Perdition, which would sweep the major Oscar nominations if they are to be announced Wednesday, is Mendes' second feature film. His American Beauty, a sunny but disturbing suburban satire, was Best Picture and grossed over $250 million worldwide in movie theatres, and at least $100 million in video and DVD sales.
Road To Perdition, which is a bigger achievement than American Beauty in its conception and execution, may not reach the same box-office heights because it demands more intense attention from the viewers. But it is certain to turn out a medium range hit.
Helped by strong reviews and a decent word of mouth, it could reach a healthy $100 million in North America, and match that performance abroad.
To call the movie a gangster film will do it injustice. For what we have here is a haunting tale about wages of sin and test of loyalty.
The movie has solid performance from practically every actor. Stanley Tucci, who appears in a few but crucial scenes, for instance, is frighteningly calm when he gives Sullivan a bit of his mind. Watch him wear a controlled smile when Connor confronts him with a serious demand.
Though Jennifer Jason Leigh has a few screen moments, she too leaves a solid impression. You never see or hear her discuss her husband's secretive job, but in a crucial scene, in which she has a line or two to let the viewers know that she has known the secret for long, the consummate actress even steals the scene from her formidable costar Tom Hanks.
Hanks, famous for his genial roles in such films as You've Got Mail, is also known to shop for offbeat parts, as evident from his Oscar-winning performances. Here, he has done something radical. We see him mostly as a man without any redemptive values. And he does not hesitate in showing us the evil within him.
The tension-filled scenes between him and Rooney (Newman in one of the best performances of his four-decade long career) are among the best acted moments in the film.
The biggest surprise here is Jude Law, the dashing actor whose noteworthy films include The Talented Mr Ripley. As the vicious and sadistic killer, he is so powerful that long after the movie ends, his immensely reflective face keeps scaring us.