Road to Perdition

How is it possible for something so vile, perverted, demented, and sexually deviant as "American Beauty" to be and then, in a relative blink of an eye, there can be something so undeniably brilliant as "Road to Perdition"?

The answer, the explanation for this apparent mind-bending contradiction, is simple: Talent.

Of course, in today's world, where the no-talent likes of Pauley Shore and Adam Sandler are allowed to exist and are praised as giants in comedy and movies, when genuine talent appears there must be a hard stop, and serious consideration by the Great Unwashed Masses, who, understandably, ask: It is real? The talent before us?

Oh, yes. And be assured without hesitation that the talent behind "Road to Perdition" is real. Very real.

So real that to suggest "Road to Perdition" is a powerful film, a masterful effort in storytelling, is to make the certain understatements of the year.

Admittedly, superficially "Road to Perdition" is a repeat of "American Beauty". But look at the actual story and see otherwise: This is a story about fathers and fatherhood. Two topics the Hollywood Machine allows to be explored with only great amounts of caution thrown to the pop culture winds. Add to this how the topic of 'father' is presented here and, well, one should not be surprised to hear a collective Politically Correct nervous gulp from Hollywood proper.

And how is 'father' presented here? How is 'fatherhood' shown here? Respectfully, honorably. Sincerely. (The latter being something the Hollywood Machine gave up on long ago.)

But I digress. To understand how 'father' and 'fatherhood' are presented here one must take note of why this film succeeds and others attempting the same would most likely fail: Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, as directed by the sui generis Sam Mendes.

Briefly now: "Road to Perdition" takes place over six weeks in the winter of 1931. (I know: Dark. Nihlistic. Heavy. Not standard fare for a summer movie season. But, wait. There is good reason for this; more later.) Tom Hanks is Michael Sullivan, a veteran of World War I, who makes a living after the war doing 'missions' for Paul Newman, who plays John Rooney, the head of an Irish mob in a town not far from the hotbed of organized crime and corruption, Chicago.

I know: Such descriptions make for easy comparisons to masterful films about family the likes of "The Godfather". But such comparisons should and must be made--that is how good "Road to Perdition" is.

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4