Just got back from a pre-release showing of Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law. This is the best movie I have seen since LOTR…even better than Minority Report (though barely). I don’t want to spoil it by printing a ton of details, so the discussion of its good and bad points will be found by pressing…
You know this thing has Oscar written all over it. And I feel justified in using that cliche, because it is LOADED with movie cliches…chock full to the gills with them. Yet, Sam Mendes, the director, created such a great looking film, with such atmosphere, and Tom Hanks and Paul Newman are such awesome actors, it works.
I knew almost everything that was coming in this movie (a rarity for someone dense like me), but it didn’t matter. The story moves along at just the right seat-squirming pace. It’s dark where it needs to be dark; funny where it needs to be funny. And Jude Law is just nasty.
Except for the fact that it’s so far away from Oscar time, I’d be betting on Best Director, Best Actor (Hanks), Best Supporting Actor (Newman). Of course, by Oscar time, Two Towers will put our favorite Kiwi in Director contention…