The Road to Perdition Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)July 18th, 2002
THE ROAD TO PERDITION
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: In 1931, circumstances make a father and son
fugitives from the Capone organization. The moving
story about two different father-son relationships
follows a once-loyal hit man forced to take actions
that will make him a legend. The film has a simple
plot but acting and beautiful photography turn this
into an emotionally charged and memorable film.
Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high +2 (-4 to +4)
THE ROAD TO PERDITION, perhaps the finest film ever adapted from a comic book, is a superficially simple but multi-layered view of two father-son relationships. It is also a look at the forces that lead a man to fame and notoriety. The story, told in flashback, is the story of supposed gangland legend Michael Sullivan as seen by his son, Michael Jr.
In the winter of 1931 this is the story of twelve-year-old Michael Sullivan, Jr. (played by Tyler Hoechlin). Michael Jr. knows his formal and undemonstrative father, Michael Sr. (Tom Hanks) is in some dangerous line of work for John Rooney (Paul Newman), but he does not know what exactly his father does. This John Rooney is the most powerful man in the small Mid-west town and has been like a second father for Michael Sr. John gave Michael Sr. a job and the home the family lives in. In return Michael Sr. is fiercely loyal and would even kill for the Rooney family. One night Michael Jr., curious about what his father does, hides in his father's car to sneak a look at what his father really does on a job. He sees John's son Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig) murder a man with the help of Michael Sr. Now Michael knows what his father does, but he also is a witness that can put Connor in jail or worse.
John Rooney has a very hard choice to make. He loves Michael Sr. like a son and is like a grandfather to Michael Jr., but Connor, as much of a disappointment as he is, is a son by blood. When Connor goes a step further killing Michael Jr.'s mother and brother John Rooney sides with his son's plan to kill the two Michaels and finish the job. Michael Sr. decides to run, take his son, go to Chicago, and appeal to Rooney's boss, Frank Nitti, lieutenant of Al Capone. (Nitti, has been played many times on the screen but here is played by the always excellent Stanley Tucci who invests the small role with a dignity and suavity that actors rarely give Nitti.)
The story is very simple (and far too much of that simple story is revealed in the film's trailer). But director Sam Mendes (of AMERICAN BEAUTY) defines and sculpts his characters. Just as Michael Sr. has to reluctantly betray his faithfulness to his employer for the sake of his son, John Rooney is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his son Connor, even to cross Nitti. Tom Hanks has specialized in nice-guy roles and is very much cast against type as a mob hit man. Certainly this seems to be his first action hero. But he does not play it flamboyantly. He is a quiet little man with a mustache. You would not look at him twice on a street. The script makes his willingness to kill acceptable because John Rooney wants to ask of him the one thing he cannot give him, the life of his remaining son. For the love of his family Michael Sr. has accepted too many good things from too many bad people. The bill is not falling due, but Rooney is asking too much. Paul Newman's Rooney also is a man of integrity. He is torn by turning against a man he loves but he also has certain loyalties he cannot allow himself to betray. He is conflicted but knows what he has to do. These are not men who kill by choice, but to protect their families they will do what they must. Jude Law plays the yellow-toothed Maguire, another sort of hit man from Sullivan. He enjoys the killing. For him a job is a way to enjoy himself and be paid for it. The script is full of symmetries. There are father-son symmetries, brother-brother symmetries, man and boss symmetries.
Cinematographer Conrad Hall films the proceedings with stylish images. Scenes are shot in dark blues and browns until late in the film when, apparently, Michael Jr. is enjoying himself a little more, suddenly there is a light change and a color change. There are no bright colors in the film and red is only used when there are very specific emotional or plot purpose. The color makes the mood and the film is full of enigmatic scenes of the early Thirties. In one Michael is left in a large waiting room filled with nearly identical men all identically reading newspapers. The winder of 1931 is a cold and wet winter and that cold and wet suffuses and drenches just about every scene. Every scene is perfectly framed. Mendes probably needed a lot of patience for Hall to so perfectly set up and photograph his scenes, but it pays off in quality of images.
This is a dark film with dark characters telling the story of a dark period in Michael Jr.'s life. Such films are not made, they are crafted. I rate it an 8 on the 0 to 10 scale and a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected] Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper
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