|
Although
it's not an even movie, Oscars should come calling early next year.
|
"Road to Perdition" is quite likely the best looking
movie produced in America this summer season and will probably win
accolades for both director Sam Mendes and cinematographer Conrad
Hall. Deservedly so. "Road to Perdition" is lovingly made
from the glowing, otherworldly shots, to the authenticity of the
1930s city and town scenes, to the care and warmth of its star performers.
What it lacks, however, is a solid narrative that can sustain its
emotional core.
"Road
to Perdition" is a collection of great scenes, individual performances
and beautiful photography that isn't brought together as a whole.
The story should be compelling. A legendary mob assassin, Mike Sullivan
(Tom Hanks), who is an extremely moral man and a close family, has
his loyalties betrayed by the man he considered his father.
On
the run, he has to regain his own relationship with his son while
exacting revenge against his employers. Indeed this was the subject
of the original Max Collins graphic novel and the Japanese manga
series "Lone Wolf and Cub" that inspired it. What the
original comic has and what "Road to Perdition" the movie
lacks, is a sustaining rhythm.
There
are many good moments in "Road to Perdition" that bring
the audience up in expectations, only to drop them. For example,
when Sullivan realizes that he will get no help from Frank Nitti,
a lieutenant of Al Capone's, and suddenly makes an escape from an
elevator, nothing at all happens to him in a hotel full of gangsters.
(In the graphic novel, Sullivan blasts through three floors of
mob men).
The
complaint here isn't that "Road to Perdition" is less
bloody than its sources, but it is in dire need of payoffs. In many
cases, the film improves on the graphic novel by solidifying the
father-son relationships between all the principals. The scene where
Sullivan attacks a group of mobsters in the middle of a rainstorm
is a marvel of composition. Sullivan stalking through hotel corridors
hunting for the object of his vengeance as the strong, foreboding
score (by Thomas Newman) rises is some great filmmaking. However,
the time between these scenes seems long.
Part
of the problem is that in the movie the father-son relationship
between Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. is not weaved in throughout the movie.
It progresses to a point and then stops, at which point the film
becomes a series of disconnected events until the telegraphed end.
This is no fault of the principal cast. Tom Hanks, Paul Newman as
the patriarch of the Irish mob, Daniel Craig as his weak but willful
son put in emotional, solid performances. Hanks in particular continues
to show the gravity of his humanity in every role he seems to take.
Tyler Hoechlin as his son impresses. The only odd end here is Jude
Law who is a completely unneeded assassin character. By the end
of the film I felt like I had seen parts of several decent, great
looking pictures in the skin of something else.
In
theatres
|
