When he’s not busy seeing his novels and short stories being adapted for either the big or small screens, which is quite often considering there are currently upwards of 25 in the works, Stephen King is known for his avid consumption of film and television.
The prolific author regularly shares his thoughts and opinions with his social media followers, offering up recommendations from across the theatrical, streaming and network slate. His latest mission is to watch a movie from each year covering 1961 to 2021, and as part of his viewing odyssey, King revisited Tom Hanks‘ Road to Perdition, as you can see below.
Continuing my resolution to see a movie from each year 1961-2021:
ENEMY AT THE GATES (2001)
ROAD TO PERDITION (2002)
Most are movies I've never seen before. I made an exception for ROAD TO PERDITION, a long-time favorite. Seen it 6 or 7 times.— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 15, 2021
Re ROAD TO PERDITION: I love the melancholy Thomas Newman soundtrack.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 15, 2021
Luckily for those who keep one eye on King’s feed, Sam Mendes’ atmospheric comic book adaptation was added to Netflix at the start of this month, so it’s easy to dive into if his glowing praise is enough to act as a convincing argument. It’s not exactly your typical comic book movie, but it can definitely be deemed as one of the genre’s overlooked gems.
Tom Hanks plays mob enforcer Mike Sullivan, who’s drawn into going on the run with his son after the kid sees a hit take place, with the perpetrator looking to eliminate any and all witness, forcing Sullivan Sr. to plot his revenge after his wife also gets caught up in the crossfire.
Road to Perdition isn’t a showy effort by any means, but Sam Mendes’ assured direction and two powerhouse performances from the leading man and the late, great Paul Newman in his final live-action appearance make it well worth checking out, and there are no doubt a lot of Netflix subscribers who’ve done exactly that, even before Stephen King touted its greatness.
