Sunday, February 7, 2010

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Road to Perdition

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





Road to Perdition (2002) Tom Hanks is certainly versatile. Even though he has proven himself in many films and many types of roles, there seems to be a stigma attached to him, that he is an average actor who only does Oscar-type films. I’m not going to argue the acting ability of Hanks, but I am going to defend his wonderful portrayal of Michael Sullivan, an depression-era mob member who has the job of an ‘enforcer’ – someone to make people do what needs to be done. As a company man most of his life he takes orders and does his job, then goes home to his wife and two children.

When one of his sons accidentally witnesses a murder by another mob member a chain of events is started that cannot be stopped. The murder of his wife and other son is the catalyst to the rest of the film which finds the man and his surviving boy on the run and looking to get a form of revenge. On their way to Perdition (a Michigan city) their bond as family is tightened and when the film ends we feel a real connection with these characters – thanks in large part to director Sam Mendes and his ability to allow the characters to bloom before our eyes. I love a movie that actually gives us character depth in the first part that leads to and offers more information at a later part. Paul Newman and Jude Law give very good supporting roles in this gangster film with a twist.



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