A good movie

I already saw this movie, in fact, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released but, since it was such a long time ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. I remember it very well when it was released though. Indeed, after Sam Mendes’s amazing directing debut, ‘American Beauty’, there were some huge expectations with his following directing debut and it was a very ambitious period piece starring Tom Hanks who was the biggest movie star in the world back in those days. Eventually, I did like it, the whole thing looked awesome and there was indeed an impressive cast (Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ciarán Hinds, Stanley Tucci) but, still, I wasn’t really blown away by the whole thing. I think the main issue was with the tone. Indeed, basically, it was supposed to be a dark and complex tale about two men who love and respect each other and who would do anything to protect their respective sons. However, it seems that, to make it more accessible to the mainstream audience (it was even released in the summer in the middle of the blockbuster season), they really toned down the dark edges of this story which was a misguided approach. It was especially obvious during the scenes focusing on Mike Sullivan and his son when they were together on the road. For some reason, it became some kind of whimsical bonding road-trip which was, in my opinion, rather inappropriate considering the circumstances. This tonal issue was also obvious in the performances. Indeed, Paul Newman, in his final performance, was just pitch-perfect and I really believed that his character was competent, fair but also really ruthless. Tom Hanks should have played on the same level but, unfortunately, he kept playing his character as basically a good guy who wanted to protect his son and I never had the feeling that I was actually watching a cold-hearted killer. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was slightly disappointing, it was still a solid feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10