Road to Perdition (Widescreen Edition)

Road to Perdition (Widescreen Edition)
by Sam Mendes

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DVD Cover Information

• Widescreen
• Deleted Scenes
• Photo Gallery
• Feature Commentary

Movie Reviews of Road to Perdition (Widescreen Edition)

Movie Review: The long, dark road to Hell.
Summary: 5 Stars

PLOT SUMMARY: Tom Hanks stars as Michael Sullivan, a hitman of the early 1930's who's life is turned upside down when the oldest of his two sons, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechin), follows him on one of his "job missions" and discovers that his father's boss, Mr. Rooney's (Paul Newman), son had murdered a man. Michael Jr. is forced to keep this incident a secret, but both father Michael and son's lives are at stake when someone from Mr. Rooney's mob murders Michael's wife, Annie Sullivan (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and his younger son, Peter (Liam Aiken), when the murderer thinks he was killing Michael Jr. Now, Michael must keep his son from "taking the road to perdition" and they are off on a long journey to try and get away from Mr. Rooney and his mob. However, Mr. Rooney has a mysterious man called Maguire (Jude Law), who must track Michael and his son down to kill them. As ironic as it is, Mr. Rooney has been like a father figure to Michael for many years, and appears to love him even more than his own son, Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig), who becomes bitter with jealousy of Michael Sullivan and plots his own revenge.

MY OVERALL THOUGHTS: First of all, the acting was mezmorising and all of the actors had great chemistry. Who knew Tom Hanks could play "the bad guy" and make it look natural and flawless? Paul Newman is amazing as usual, and Jude Law was wonderful in a smaller role. The supporting cast, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Daniel Craig, Liam Aiken, etc. all did great jobs as well. Hence, I think the real star of this film is Tyler Hoechin, a young unknown actor who brilliantly portrayed the tough role of Michael Jr. He was the one that needed to bring the film together, since the story is seen from Michael Jr.'s eyes, and he did a superb job. I hope to see Hoechin in future films. The dialouge and storyline were amazing. Sam Mendes did a terrific directing job. The cinematography, sets, costumes, sound, and original musicical score are all stunning and absolutely gorgeous. And when you think, "Oh--it's always raining, snowing, or it's nighttime in this film!", well that's because those weather elements help to show the emotions of the film. In my opinion, "Road to Perdition" is one of the best films of the year! There is no real flaw to it, except that it's a bit slow-paced, but you're so engrossed into the film that you hardly notice the time flying by.

The question is: Is "Road to Perdition" for everyone? Well, it all depends. If you like mob films, then this is definitely for you. Also, if you like a film where father/son must struggle with their relationship, then you will probably enjoy it...at least the family element of the story. If you care for neither, then most likely, you should skip this unless you are a diehard fan of one of the actors in the film. Then you might want to check this out for their performance. But "Road to Perdition" is definitely a powerful film. It's a real "art-y film" and an "actor's film".

The DVD is OK, with some good, normal bonus features like deleted scenes, an HBO presentation on the making of "Road to Perdition", a commentary track with Sam Mendes, production notes, and a photo gallery. It is available in both wide screen and full frame formats.

I highly recommend "Road to Perdition".

Score:
100/100
A+

Summary of Road to Perdition (Widescreen Edition)