Road to Perdition (2002)

Well made movie on a sketchy story
By 2002, the world had watched enough gangster movies that there was really not much left to explore. Until it watched 'Road To Perdition'. A gangster movie made with several murder scenes, but with such a serene pace is not common. That a movie with gore events can ultimately be summed up as an aesthetic work can be largely attributed to the magnificent work of cinematographer Conrad L Hill and to the script as well. The movie never rushes, nor the camera. Deaths are shown in the eyes of a young lad, in the reflection of a mirror, through the glass of a window, while jazz music is entertaining people in the next room... enormous possibility has been created in this movie to depict murder shots. The movie can be a lesson about how glass and rain can be used as a photographic subject. Also ubiquitous is rain and snow. 'Depression' can be constantly felt throughout the film - be it weather, be it light, be it Tom Hank's face. The brilliant music of the movie (by Tomas Newman) interestingly keeps a well maintained distance from the ongoing carnage on the screen. All through its a symphonic and melancholic music. Its truly wonderful music, can be termed as an asset of the movie.

After you watch it, or while watching, you may be reminded of 'The Godfather'. Difference is, while the main protagonist of 'Godfather' was a very powerful man, here Sullivan is not that a big player, rather a pawn. He cannot dictate terms or take decisions. Here he is in the middle of the top boss and the common people whom he fires his gun. His bad luck is no less than his victims. Out of a small accident of his son's watching a murder (the weakest point of the movie - not convincing), he is a fugitive in one night.

That the entire episode of six weeks is observed and told by a young boy is another new angle to a gangster movie. The way the boy tells the story makes it clear from the beginning that Hanks would succumb to his enemies ultimately.

So much of strengths could not however cover the basic deficiencies of the story line. Apart from the child's night adventure, the successive bank robberies, medical help to get rid of the bullet (the host did not even think to go to police!), Hank's visit to Newman to complain about his son's stealing, Sullivan Sr. never even mourns the loss of his family, later killing Newman and his party with a machine gun - there are too many lose ends. Still the very manner this movie narrates the story is something new.

Career move
What do you want from a movie? Truth? Immortality? Answers? Artistic masterpiece? Two-hour respite? The answer will determine your impression of any movie. To be sure, there are omissions and leaps here. And scenes even may be predictable. But, you only have two hours to surrender, and sophisticated movie watchers today after decades of movies and TV can anticipate scenes and make the leaps and ignore the gaps to see the story.

This story is about an unusual "coming of age" of a boy, and the risk of his following his father's example, possibly becoming the evil seen in the Jude Law character where murder is more joy than job. Hanks exhibits the utlimate disillusionment and trap men often experience whether they are murderers or accountants. Hanks is provoked to change. He knows, as we do, that he is on the road to perdition which is both his only sanctuary from his life and his well-deserved Hell.

The characters are masterfully protrayed and play off each other. Hanks is evil remorseful and glum; Law is evil eeriely excited and pleased; Newman is evil tired, sated and old; the boy is the promise of what could have been or could be.

The music by Thomas Newman is the masterpiece. I can listen to "Nothing to trade" and imagine a bloody, scarey road to perdition. "Nothing to trade" is more than rapid heart beat of suspense. It is a rolling and spiking mixture of terror, alarm, apprehension, and horror.

Don't miss this one. You may or may not like the movie. It might not hit you over the head, but you realize later that you are often thinking about it.

Career move
What do you want from a movie? Truth? Immortality? Answers? Artistic masterpiece? Two-hour respite? The answer will determine your impression of any movie. To be sure, there are omissions and leaps here. And scenes even may be predictable. But, you only have two hours to surrender, and sophisticated movie watchers today after decades of movies and TV can anticipate scenes and make the leaps and ignore the gaps to see the story.

This story is about an unusual "coming of age" of a boy, and the risk of his following his father's example, possibly becoming the evil seen in the Jude Law character where murder is more joy than job. Hanks exhibits the utlimate disillusionment and trap men often experience whether they are murderers or accountants. Hanks is provoked to change. He knows, as we do, that he is on the road to perdition which is both his only sanctuary from his life and his well-deserved Hell.

The characters are masterfully protrayed and play off each other. Hanks is evil remorseful and glum; Law is evil eeriely excited and pleased; Newman is evil tired, sated and old; the boy is the promise of what could have been or could be.

The music by Thomas Newman is the masterpiece. I can listen to "Nothing to trade" and imagine a bloody, scarey road to perdition. "Nothing to trade" is more than rapid heart beat of suspense. It is a rolling and spiking mixture of terror, alarm, apprehension, and horror.

Don't miss this one. You may or may not like the movie. It might not hit you over the head, but you realize later that you are often thinking about it.