Road To Perdition (2002)

The point of these challenges or what I am doing is to check out films that you never seen before. Unfortunately for me, there have been a lot of films that somehow have fallen through the cracks and I just have not had the chance to see them and the film I picked for today is one of them. The film I chose for today is called Road To Perdition and it was released in 2002 and it was directed by Sam Mendes (1917). The film stars Tom Hanks (Toy Story 4) as Michael Sullivan, a mob enforcer whose son happens to witness a murder that ends up getting Michael's wife and other son killed because of it. This forces Michael to take his son on the road with him as he plans his revenge. The film also stars Tyler Hoechlin (Everybody Wants Some!) as Michael Jr., Jennifer Jason Leigh (Good Time) as Annie Sullivan, Paul Newman (The Hustler) as John Rooney, Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) as Connor Rooney, Ciarán Hinds (Frozen) as Finn McGovern, Dylan Baker (Trick 'r Treat) as Rance,  Stanley Tucci (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Frank Nitti, Jude Law (Captain Marvel) as Maguire, and Liam Aiken (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events) as Peter Sullivan.

The truth of the matter was that I had only seen the ending of the film so I ultimately knew what was going to happen, I just didn't know how they got there. Jude Law's role wasn't a huge one, but he makes such an impact with the screen time that was given to him. He is instantly a character that you are never going to forget because of how creepy the guy is. He likes to take photographs of the dead and not just the ones that he has killed either which should be enough information for you to know who you are dealing with. There is so much emotion in this film that it's divided and distributed very well throughout the story from the loss of his family to the loss of his other family which hurts just as much to a guy like Michael Sullivan. Tom Hanks was well... Tom Hanks and that means that he was masterful because I don't think that Tom Hanks makes a bad film and if he does its very rare. Tom does an amazing job of keep your attention as he struggles to navigate through the madness because he has to deal with his son and his issues plus deal with the fact that the "family" wants him dead. I love the costumes, the sets, the cars, and of course the Tommy Gun which we get to see in this prohibition era film. Sam Mendes does an unbelievable job with the film and we really shouldn't be surprised at this point. The film is currently available on Netflix as we speak and this is one that you are going to want to check out. So wit that being said, I am going to go ahead and give the film an A- for a final grade.

Good Time (2017)

Earlier in the year, we introduced you to the Safdie brothers (Benny and Josh) who directed the film Uncut Gems that starred Adam Sandler that was a surprise at the box office. That was a very unique film that they made to see if I enjoyed their style. So, I decided to go on Netflix and after seeing that they had a film on there I decided that I would check it out in 2017's Good Time. The film stars Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse) as Connie Nikas, a guy on the wrong side of the law that decides to get his developmentally disabled brother Nick (Benny Safdie) in a bank robbery that goes terribly wrong. The only problem is that Connie manages to escape while his little brother gets caught and sent to jail. All Connie needs to do to get him out is to come up with $15,000, but he also has to avoid getting caught by the police and that is going to prove to be challenging. The film also stars Buddy Duress (Beware Of Dog) as Ray,  Taliah Webster (Hair Wolf) as Crystal, Jennifer Jason Leigh (Fast Times At Ridgemont High) as Corey Ellman, Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) as security guard, Necro as Caliph, and Peter Verby as Peter The Psychiatrist.

After watching this film, I have come to the conclusion that while I may not be a huge fan of their directing style or even their writing skills, this was not a terrible film. They have this thing with just launching you into a story and you have to figure out what in the hell is going on and why are these people even important?  The style of the film is almost identical to that of Uncut Gems which means there is not a lot that is going into the main plot other than the fact that Robert Pattinson has to save his brother. In this film, we get introduced to characters and the one rule is that you better not get too attached to some of them because they are gone just as quick as they arrive like Jennifer Jason Leigh's character. One thing that I will say is that each film has amazing performances from their main star with Sandler being awesome in Gems and Robert Pattinson just killing it in this film. He just commands the screen every time he is on it and he has more than proven that he should not be judged by the fact that he was in The Twilight Series. You saw the masterful performance from him in The Lighthouse and you get just that in this one as he manages to slither his way through New York City. The cinematography and tones are very visceral and intense and can I just say that Peter the shrink just kind of weirds me out a little bit. The film is on Netflix as I said and it's worth the watch. That is why I am going to be giving the film an B for a final grade and only because of Pattinson's performance alone.