FLMKR4EB
Jul 13th, 2002, 03:19:09 PM
Sorry CMJ for not posting in your thread, but I had a lot to say, and will add my other comments to it as it grows. But for now, here is my first attempt at a true movie review, no rhyme intended.
Road To Perdition: A Review
To say that I was highly anticipating this film would definitely be an under statement. Road to Perdition was an obvious choice of mine for the coming Academy Awards, and I hadn?t even seen it when I made that prediction. Going to see it would prove if my judgment was right, or, as it has been many times before, wrong.
?Road To? is an Academy formula perfect film, superficially. Utilizing the talents of Oscar Winners Tom Hanks and Paul Newman to carry the weight of the heavy subject matter, Oscar winning director Sam Mendez caps off this film?s great ingredients. But enough about past winners, did they mix like cereal and milk, or oil and vinegar?
I avoided all reviews and criticism of any kind, and carried to my seat only my own expectations. I had to fight to hold my tongue when, surrounded by elderly women who asked their husbands and or companions ?What did he say?? every other line, then repeated the question when they missed the retort, I eased my way into a film that would leave me speechless for quite sometime. I didn?t even start writing this review until hours afterward. No, it?s the first film in a long time that actually asked me to think it over, to not rush any decisions. The movie spoke to me in many ways and many voices. From a father torn with loyalty to his savior, and the cries of his family. A son rejected by his father, pleading for any sign of love, or twinkle of favor. And a surrogate father engulfed with the love of his loyal follower, but ripped apart by the disappointment of his true son and his duty to care for his own flesh and blood. I can?t fully describe the power behind this movie, other than to say I?ve yet to see a movie like it.
?Road to? bears the burden of following a dark and haunted style. Much of the film takes place at night and is over whelmed by a score that is very reminiscent of The Shawshank Redemption. Brooding and hard, cold to the ear with string instruments, but pulsing like a blood filled heart when tension rides high.
The movie commands great respect by its audience. I don?t think many children; especially teenagers will be able to fathom this movie, its too deep for a mind seeking cheap thrills like those in Triple X, or slapstick type jokes in a typical Teen Comedy. Perdition relies on the strength of its characters, the dialogue, and therefore the actors themselves to carry the film. There is some action, but it isn?t blazing guns for twenty minutes, or slowmo jumping and diving. The realistic gunfights between human beings, not action heroes, are perfect. At times it is stylized, but only so it has a much firmer impact on the mind, using sound, or soundlessness to draw the viewer into the confusion. A brilliant use of weapons is shown; rather I'll say a mature use of weapons. The guns are an underlying evil that keeps each person in fearful respect of one another.
The Tommy Gun?s place in the film is one of true mystique. It doesn?t get viewed until it is absolutely necessary. Even its construction of barrel and stock, handle and magazine is eloquent and ritualistic. Its first appearance is marked only by the audiences understanding of a small handled case.
Perdition has one of the most memorable gun fights/gun downs I?ve ever seen. No spoiler, but the machine gun in the rain is truly beautiful. It encapsulated all the emotions of the movie in one moment and five words.
The acting left me stunned, yet not surprised. With veterans as these vitalizing the screenplay it?s of no shock. I expect to see Hanks make another appearance at the Oscars this February. But more so than Hanks, I expect to see Newman brandishing the golden statue once again. His return to the screen from ?retirement? is captivating, exhilarating, and full of the emotion and presence a master like he is carries in his back pocket. Let me not forget the bold Jude Law, whose charisma alone won me over. It?s quite unfortunate that he wasn?t in the film more, because his lack of screen time will be what holds him back from the nomination. I sure hope the Academy over looks that moot point, and sees the extent in which he became his character. The dinner scene is heart stopping. Something I play in my mind over and over again, because in it we have Hanks and Law square off in such great fashion, its natural, not deep, not nearly as intense as the dinner scene in HEAT, but their personalities matched with their mutual respect is enough to make me long for Law in every scene.
I am a camera freak. I love set ups, lights, and lighting tricks. This movie is so dark, but yet just light enough to find your way. Eye light is perfect when needed, good characters are lit softly in the dark, making them almost glow, and bad guys are shadowed sharply, to hide their sins. This style of the camera work reflected the film?s theme perfectly ? There is a light in the dark, there is hope.
I?ll wind down with my only criticism, my only negative thoughts. For a movie that is around an hour and a half, some moments are drawn out too long. The good thing about this is that it caused me to be very uncomfortable, like the characters, but still, my interest needs to be held. The pacing is just a tad too slow. And the story seemed a little week for me. The commercials dub this movie the greatest crime drama since the Godfather. Well, the Godfather is head and shoulders above Perdition, but that is because it has a more complex plot. Perdition is straightforward, too predictable. I knew the ending long before I should have, and because of that I just waited for the inevitable. The plot to me felt as if it was always building to this point, never catching me in falsehoods, or twists, just a straightforward, wham bam thank you mam type of deal. All I really would have liked is to have been challenged as an audience member, not spoon-fed. Perdition doesn?t take enough risks, its too safe. I?m not as stupid as I appear; give me something to chew on. I see this as the only reason to not totally give the film a perfect score.
To sum it up, I hope to see this film get the nomination, but I don?t think it deserves the award as of yet.
RATING: A
To add some after thoughts, they screened some more awsome Trailers with Road to Perdition, including Gangs of New York, Punch Drunk Love, Moonlight Mile (I think that ws it), and a few others. Punch Drunk look terrific, I'm dying to see it. Moonlight Mile as I belive it was called could garner Hoffman an Academy Award Nod just by the looks of the trailer, and also one for Sarandon. Gangs of New York looks like another film that will get an Oscar Nod, possible Win. I'm really looking forward to that one, well all three of these.
-FLMKR4EB
Road To Perdition: A Review
To say that I was highly anticipating this film would definitely be an under statement. Road to Perdition was an obvious choice of mine for the coming Academy Awards, and I hadn?t even seen it when I made that prediction. Going to see it would prove if my judgment was right, or, as it has been many times before, wrong.
?Road To? is an Academy formula perfect film, superficially. Utilizing the talents of Oscar Winners Tom Hanks and Paul Newman to carry the weight of the heavy subject matter, Oscar winning director Sam Mendez caps off this film?s great ingredients. But enough about past winners, did they mix like cereal and milk, or oil and vinegar?
I avoided all reviews and criticism of any kind, and carried to my seat only my own expectations. I had to fight to hold my tongue when, surrounded by elderly women who asked their husbands and or companions ?What did he say?? every other line, then repeated the question when they missed the retort, I eased my way into a film that would leave me speechless for quite sometime. I didn?t even start writing this review until hours afterward. No, it?s the first film in a long time that actually asked me to think it over, to not rush any decisions. The movie spoke to me in many ways and many voices. From a father torn with loyalty to his savior, and the cries of his family. A son rejected by his father, pleading for any sign of love, or twinkle of favor. And a surrogate father engulfed with the love of his loyal follower, but ripped apart by the disappointment of his true son and his duty to care for his own flesh and blood. I can?t fully describe the power behind this movie, other than to say I?ve yet to see a movie like it.
?Road to? bears the burden of following a dark and haunted style. Much of the film takes place at night and is over whelmed by a score that is very reminiscent of The Shawshank Redemption. Brooding and hard, cold to the ear with string instruments, but pulsing like a blood filled heart when tension rides high.
The movie commands great respect by its audience. I don?t think many children; especially teenagers will be able to fathom this movie, its too deep for a mind seeking cheap thrills like those in Triple X, or slapstick type jokes in a typical Teen Comedy. Perdition relies on the strength of its characters, the dialogue, and therefore the actors themselves to carry the film. There is some action, but it isn?t blazing guns for twenty minutes, or slowmo jumping and diving. The realistic gunfights between human beings, not action heroes, are perfect. At times it is stylized, but only so it has a much firmer impact on the mind, using sound, or soundlessness to draw the viewer into the confusion. A brilliant use of weapons is shown; rather I'll say a mature use of weapons. The guns are an underlying evil that keeps each person in fearful respect of one another.
The Tommy Gun?s place in the film is one of true mystique. It doesn?t get viewed until it is absolutely necessary. Even its construction of barrel and stock, handle and magazine is eloquent and ritualistic. Its first appearance is marked only by the audiences understanding of a small handled case.
Perdition has one of the most memorable gun fights/gun downs I?ve ever seen. No spoiler, but the machine gun in the rain is truly beautiful. It encapsulated all the emotions of the movie in one moment and five words.
The acting left me stunned, yet not surprised. With veterans as these vitalizing the screenplay it?s of no shock. I expect to see Hanks make another appearance at the Oscars this February. But more so than Hanks, I expect to see Newman brandishing the golden statue once again. His return to the screen from ?retirement? is captivating, exhilarating, and full of the emotion and presence a master like he is carries in his back pocket. Let me not forget the bold Jude Law, whose charisma alone won me over. It?s quite unfortunate that he wasn?t in the film more, because his lack of screen time will be what holds him back from the nomination. I sure hope the Academy over looks that moot point, and sees the extent in which he became his character. The dinner scene is heart stopping. Something I play in my mind over and over again, because in it we have Hanks and Law square off in such great fashion, its natural, not deep, not nearly as intense as the dinner scene in HEAT, but their personalities matched with their mutual respect is enough to make me long for Law in every scene.
I am a camera freak. I love set ups, lights, and lighting tricks. This movie is so dark, but yet just light enough to find your way. Eye light is perfect when needed, good characters are lit softly in the dark, making them almost glow, and bad guys are shadowed sharply, to hide their sins. This style of the camera work reflected the film?s theme perfectly ? There is a light in the dark, there is hope.
I?ll wind down with my only criticism, my only negative thoughts. For a movie that is around an hour and a half, some moments are drawn out too long. The good thing about this is that it caused me to be very uncomfortable, like the characters, but still, my interest needs to be held. The pacing is just a tad too slow. And the story seemed a little week for me. The commercials dub this movie the greatest crime drama since the Godfather. Well, the Godfather is head and shoulders above Perdition, but that is because it has a more complex plot. Perdition is straightforward, too predictable. I knew the ending long before I should have, and because of that I just waited for the inevitable. The plot to me felt as if it was always building to this point, never catching me in falsehoods, or twists, just a straightforward, wham bam thank you mam type of deal. All I really would have liked is to have been challenged as an audience member, not spoon-fed. Perdition doesn?t take enough risks, its too safe. I?m not as stupid as I appear; give me something to chew on. I see this as the only reason to not totally give the film a perfect score.
To sum it up, I hope to see this film get the nomination, but I don?t think it deserves the award as of yet.
RATING: A
To add some after thoughts, they screened some more awsome Trailers with Road to Perdition, including Gangs of New York, Punch Drunk Love, Moonlight Mile (I think that ws it), and a few others. Punch Drunk look terrific, I'm dying to see it. Moonlight Mile as I belive it was called could garner Hoffman an Academy Award Nod just by the looks of the trailer, and also one for Sarandon. Gangs of New York looks like another film that will get an Oscar Nod, possible Win. I'm really looking forward to that one, well all three of these.
-FLMKR4EB