Another excellent film from a stellar 2002 and it's one that I've been off and on with over the last few years. My initial reaction to the film was one of disappointment and frustration. Sure, I had heard that Tom Hanks played a 'bad guy' in the film but I wasn't expecting to watch what was basically a 'good guy' just making bad decisions. So by the end of the film, although I really enjoyed it, how could I love a film in which characters make frustratingly wrong choices?
Over time I have come to appreciate films and narratives that may present us with fallible and tragic characters, but also provide us with insight and wisdom; this is main reason that I truly appreciate Road to Perdition. It combines two story threads, one of revenge and one of the relationships between fathers and sons, and wrings out every irony, conflict, and truths that those threads can deliver. I am still fustrated by the tragic choices in the film, but I am right to be fustrated. These characters have a story to tell and their wrong choices teach me as much, if not more, than had they chosen a different path.
Outside of that, this one of the finest looking films ever shot. Much like, but vastly superior to, Sam Mendes and Conrad Hall's previous film American Beauty, Road to Perdition is strikingly beautiful and measured. Hall and Mendes deliver some stunning images, but also create a couple of incredible suspenseful sequences between Hanks and Jude Laws' assassin. All in all, Road to Perdition is a challenging film that has a slew of rewards for its audience.
P.S. Those rewards also include a great Paul Newman performance and a fantastic musical score
Minority Report (2002) Directed by Steven Spielberg
Outside of two films that will remain unnamed, I would say this is Spielberg's greatest directing achievement of his career. From the first frame to the last frame, every sequence is crammed full of creative genius. Speaking of 'frames', I think this is also Spielberg's visual masterpiece. His camera is constantly moving, but it's never erratic. It reveals exactly what it needs to without seeming obvious. This is a stunning achievement.
It's a miracle that Minority Report works as well as it does given that it straddles so many genres (science fiction, crime, mystery, noir, action) and attempts to deliver not only a complicated narrative, but knock-out action sequences, and a deeply satisfying philosophical discussion on free will and justice. Costume design and set design enrich the entire template and create a completely convincing future (one of the most practical and foretelling ever on film).
There are numerous sequences that I could reference as my favorite, but if I boiled it down, the entire eye replacement sequence is one of my favorites. From the creepy doctors to the cringe inducing eye scanners spiders, Spielberg was clearly having fun directing all of this. Add on top of that an incredible action sequence featuring jet packs and a car factory of the future and this film is an embarrassment of riches. If you've somehow overlooked it or haven't seen it in a while, I urge you to give it another look.
I liked it on first watch, but over time I have come to see The Bourne Identity as an action classic, redefining the spy genre and putting to shame 2002's other spy entry, the cartoonish James Bond film Die Another Day. In fact, Bourne's influence is confirmed in the fact that the next time Bond emerged on the big screen in Casino Royale, it was a spitting image of Bourne himself. Along with The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, these three films have influenced nearly all the action the 2000s saw on the big screen.
Three elements stand out to me in this film; the story, the settings, and the action. The Bourne Identity features and incredibly smart and intelligent plot, filled with great lines, and a few genuine moments between the characters. Enhancing the great story is some great location work. There are no Caribbean beaches, but I love the great photography that Liman gets in these European cities. Its superbly memorable to me, and its something that I always look forward to when watching it.
Filling out this film are several incredible action sequences including one of the greatest car chases in all of cinema. It gets the big stunts, the small stunts, the local flavor, and the camera all right. While the fight scenes are not kung fu masterpieces, Liman expertly stages them to make them clearly choreographed but more brutal and practical than your typical kung fu fight.
It would be easy to overlook this film and to think of it as a mere action film, but I think that would be discounting how well made this film is. Its able to pull off one of the hardest tasks in all of cinema; pulse pounding cinematic action sequences and adult level espionage and drama. Its rare to find a film that accomplishes this, and we should cherish the ones that do.
Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002) Directed by Alfonso Cuaron
After much deliberation and thought, I decided that this controversial Mexican road trip film had to make my list. It typically falls off and jumps on my lists every other year, as I get gun-shy about including it. As much as I try and move past this film, it still continues to bother me (in the good way), to engage me with its story, and confront me with its characters. That has emboldened me enough to include it on this list. I know that many of you are completely unfamiliar with this film and are wondering what on earth makes it so controversial, so let me explain.
Y Tu Mama Tambien (spanish for “And your mother too”) was the breakthrough critical hit film for Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron (director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). The film tells the story of Julio and Tenoch’s summer after high school graduation and before college. They set out to woo Luisa, an older woman who is loosely related to Tenoch, and they eventually convince her to head out on a beach trip with them. The rest of the film follows their journey and their attempts to try and score with Luisa.
What makes the film a controversial choice is that it’s an extremely sexual film. The film contains several graphic sex scenes, as well as constant explicit dialogue. Throw in some casual drug use (which there is) and we have the makings of your average teenage sex comedy. If you know me at all, you should know that my least favorite genre is the teenage sex comedy. So what gives?
Although it retains the outline and characters of a sex comedy, Y Tu Mama Tambien is really a film about moral immaturity masquerading as sexual freedom. The film ultimately subverts and destroys all the typical pleasures of your normal sex comedy. Rather than making Julio and Tenoch the heroes in the story, the film takes every chance it can to make them into failures.
They make promises to their girlfriends to stay true, and promptly break them at the first chance. They make a code of ethics between each other, and end up breaking nearly every one of them (even sleeping with each other’s girlfriends). When they finally end up “scoring” with Luisa, they are not conquering victors; they are immature children who care nothing for her. Jealousy, rage, unforgiveness, and pettiness are all traits that our leads will eventually come face to face with.
The art direction and cinematography also work to convey the moral decay of our two leads. There is a particular sequence at a motel pool, where the decrepit and uncared for pool mirrors the decay of leads. There is also a narrator who breaks into the film every now and then and gives some human detail about the locations and areas our leads pass through. Most of the time it’s about someone who died in an accident on the spot they passed through, or some secret detail about the character itself. This voice-over completely revolutionizes the film, exposing the self-centeredness of our supposed heroes.
There is a secret that our narrator does not reveal and that we do not find out about until the end, and its reveal is devastating. The final sequence finds our two lead characters stopping for coffee as changed men; their immature debauchery clearly behind them and the obligations of the present pressing upon them. It’s a sobering sequence, and it stands in stark contrast to the gratuitous sexual triumphs of lesser films.
I love this film because it tries with every fiber of its being to comment upon the selfishness of our two teen leads. It’s a film that realistically portrays the perspective and attitudes of many young teenagers, and then systematically subverts the supposed sexual freedom that is portrayed. Did it have to be as explicit as it was? No, it could’ve done things differently, and its for that reason that its not a film I pop into the DVD player often, nor is it a film I recomend often. Still, the film is a powerful artistic statement that conveys truth, and its one that I couldn’t live without.
Road to Perdition (2002)
