Road to Perdition

Reviewed by Justin Colburn and Keayn Dunya

Cast

Tom Hanks....Michael Sullivan

Paul Newman....John Rooney

Jude Law....Maguire

Tyler Hoechlin....Michael Sullivan, Jr.

Jennifer Jason Leigh....Annie Sullivan

Stanley Tucci....Frank Nitti

Daniel Craig (I)....Connor Rooney

Liam Aiken....Peter Sullivan

Ciaran Hinds....Finn McGovern

Dylan Baker....Alexander Rance

David Darlow....Jack Kelly

Doug Spinuzza....Calvino

Summary

Mike Sullivan (Tom Hanks) works for crime boss John Rooney (or Looney in the book, Paul Newman). Sullivan views Rooney as a father figure and as a savior for his family. After his son is witness to a murder he commits, Mike Sullivan finds himself on the run in order to protect the life of his son.

Justin:

A couple of months back I was casually flipping through the Diamond catalog, when I saw a small ad promoting the re-release of the Road to Perdition. It was described as a crime fiction novel from former Dick Tracy writer Max Collins. It peaked my interest, so I ordered a copy. A month and a half later I saw the first televised ad for the movie staring Tom Hanks, Paul Neuman and Jude Law. It was a simple task to talk my friends into going to watch a movie instead of going to rent a movie, and so on opening night we found ourselves sitting in the front row, slouching down in our seats as far as we could in a vain attempt to avoid the inevitable neck cramps that come with sitting so close to the screen.

At the time I saw the movie, my copy of the Road to Perdition graphic novel still hadn't arrived, so I had no idea what to expect. As a movie I enjoyed it. I found it kind of slow, and the camera work was kind of obnoxious considering every shot felt like it was panning or zooming. I know some people think this makes a movie "epic" but it just gives me motion sickness. All that aside, I had no problems with this movie, until I read the novel.

As I've stated before, the book is always better than the movie (with the exception of the Princess Bride which was on equal terms with the movie) and whenever you read the book after watching the movie you run the risk of ruining the story for yourself somewhat. In the graphic novel Michael Sullivan was looked at as the angel of death and there is no way you would be able to see the human side of his personality if it wasn't for the story being told through his son's eyes. Michael Sullivan Jr. was telling a story to try to clear up the confusion surrounding his father's life. Not to paint him as a sinner or a saint, just as a man. The book did everything the movie did only it was paced faster and it wasn't watered down. And in the end, seeing Michael Sullivan Jr. as an adult showed exactly how much love and admiration for his father he actually had.

For those of you keeping count, this makes the second big comic book adapted movie for the summer. Unfortunately the movie that might have attracted more people from outside the realm of comics, was barely promoted by the industry at all. Spider-Man was promoted well and rightfully so, fans had been waiting decades for a good movie. The movies release date was declared free comic book day, and several of the major comic book companies released free books to be given away, in an attempt to draw new readers into the industry. But all the industry did for Road to Perdition was re-release the old graphic novel. Now, I'm no expert, but that looks like a missed opportunity to me. What people within the comic book industry aren't realizing is that everyone who wants to read superhero comics, is already reading them. It's ludicrous to try to support an entire industry on a single genre. Imagine if every book was a romance novel or every movie a western. Warren Ellis comments once that the comic book is like an inbred beast, what he meant by that was that the industry caters to itself. When something new and exciting happens it gets promoted in Wizard and Previews, magazines that comic book readers read. How is the industry ever going to grow when it doesn't try to pull new readers in with new ideas? Road to Perdition might have been able to bring new readers to comics, if they had known.

Keayn:

When I first looked at the Road to Perdition graphic novel, I gave it the typical once-over. When I finally sat down and read it, I realized that I had held off on one of the best. Road to Perdition seemed to defy typical classifications. It could be said to be a gangster tale, a coming of age story, or a cautionary tale. At the very least it's all of these things and more.

In the graphic novel Michael Sullivan is a loyal soldier of the Looney Family, known by them as the Angel of Death. A visit from him was usually either a warning or fatal. For the Looneys he was a cold, efficient killer. To his family he was a stern but loving father and a loving husband. He kept his work and his family separate and in order to shield them neither his wife nor his kids knew what kind of work he did for his employer. His sons even speculated that their father was an undercover G-man, using his war training for the government. That blissful ignorance was shattered when Michael Jr., witnessed the type of retribution handed out by his father. This one innocent action changes the lives of all involved. The Sullivan's try cope with adversity while also trying to extract revenge. Michael Jr. comes to realize that there is more to his father than he ever guessed. While he can't be deny what type of living his father made, he comes to understand that it affects his father in ways he never thought of. He also comes to respect his father's way of coping.

When I heard of the movie version of Road to Perdition, I immediately put it on my 'must see' list. The graphic novel version was so smooth and trim that it read almost like a story board. In my mind this was a slam dunk. Wrong. I know all the cliche's about the book being better. I am jaded enough to have know better. Don't get me wrong it is a good movie, but it could have been so much more. Road to Perdition will, at least in my mind, be sub-tilted Tour of missed chances.

Road to Perdition is a great graphic novel, not many people even know about. I realize that merchandising has to have a hand in everything but the movie tie-in book getting more play than the original is something that I find inane. The character of Michael Sr. was changed. I also know that it was to make him more personable to have a lead that the audience co easily identify with, yet the graphic novel Sullivan was so much more interesting, so much more complex. The movie version of Michael Jr. comes across as whiney and annoying, where the other Jr. benefited from having a stronger influence, the Angel of Death had a more commanding presence. He learned so much from his father that he became that with he respected most.

Road to Perdition as a movie was good. The pacing was odd and there was the stench of Hollywood on it but all in all it was okay. Road to Perdition the graphic novel was great. A book to be read and re-read in order to absorb the most from it. Road to Perdition the movie-tie is sad. It says something for our culture that we have to rework a great and original idea in order to sell it to the masses.