Category Archives: Catholic Church Corruption

2002, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Ageing Couple, America of the 1930s, Bank Robbery, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, Career Criminal, Catholic Church Corruption, Catholic culture, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime Family, DO NOT MISS, Dog episode, Drama, Ethical struggles, Father-son relations, Fatherless child, Gangs, Grim, Invincible villain, Irish Mob, Kanopy streaming, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Psychopath, Redemption, Revenge, Ruthless Killer, Suspense, Uncategorized, Wonderful acting

Road to Perdition (2022)

From IMDB:

A mob enforcer’s son in 1930s Illinois witnesses a murder, forcing him and his father to take to the road, and his father down a path of redemption and revenge.

From Netflix (and Kanopy) you can stream this 1 hour 57 minute Irish mob classic film which  earned five Academy Awards  nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Paul Newman. Originally the story was a graphic novel.

Tom Hanks bemoans the seeming obscurity of the film. He is quoted as saying  “For one reason or another, no one references Road to Perdition, and that was an incredibly important movie for me to go through.”  In fact, it was just his comment that motivated me to watch the film.

Consider the outstanding actors involved:

  • Tom Hanks plays the enforcer and father Michael Sullivan. At the time of filming he was 46.
  • Tyler Hoechlin plays the endangered son Michael Sullivan Jr. At the time of filming he was 15.  Later he played superheroes.
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the mother Annie Sullivan.
  • Paul Newman plays the mob family head John Rooney. This was his  final live-action theatrical film acting role at which time he was 77. Newman died in 2008,
  • Daniel Craig plays the out-of-control son Connor Rooney. At the time of filming he was 34. Craig began filming at age 24.
  • Ciarán Hinds plays the witnessed murdered man Finn McGovern.
  • Stanley Tucci plays the Chicago mobster Frank Nitti.
  • Jude Law plays the psychopath Maguire who photographs his victims’ corpses. At time of filming he was 30. He began filming as a child actor of age 16.
  • Anthony LaPaglia was cast as Al Capone and filmed a single scene, which was omitted from the final cut  and can be found in the DVD’s deleted scenes.

Of course, it is a violent gangster film, but a tasteful one (if that is possible).  At the center of the film is the son Michael who is an essentially good kid that worships his father and whose salvation is at stake.

DO NOT MISS!

2008, Abuse of Women, Acceptable for teenagers, Amusing banter, Catholic Church Corruption, Comic Moments, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Financial malfeasance, Flirting, German, German Detectives, Insurance Fraud, Interest in automobiles, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Made For TV, MHz Choice, Mixed Martial Arts, Murder Investigation, Police Politics, Religious Theme, Revenge, Suspense, Unbelievably smart detective, Uncategorized

Marie’s Mind for Murder (2008)

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From MHz Choice:

After the death of her policeman father, Inspector Marie Brand (Mariele Millowitsch) said goodbye to homicide – or so she thought. But after being called in to consult on a difficult case she finds herself back on the job, working with the very handsome Inspector Jürgen Simmel, a ladies’ man with a soft spot for Marie. With her brilliant, analytical mind for murder and Simmel’s more hands-on approach, these two form a perfect team!

From MHz Choice ($7.99 per month) you can stream 10 episodes of Season 1.  Each episode lasts about an hour and a half. Speech is in German with English subtitles.

To the above summary I can only add that these detective stories are easy to watch (no gore, no serial killers). Brand and Simmel engage in amusing quasi-combative banter. Simmel gets involved with many beautiful women, who unfortunately are often part of the crime du jour. Brand has some personal troubles. Simmel is often clumsy while physically active most of the time ( since he really wants to show off his martial art skills).

All in all, this series is a pleasant way to pass the time.

Catholic Church Corruption, Catholic culture, Child abuse, Docudrama, Emotional child abuse, Gay theme, Pedophilia, Priest Pedophiles, Suspense, True Story

Spotlight (2015)

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From IMDB:

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

For more than 2 hours Kathy and I sat glued to the screen waiting to see if the Boston Globe could get the goods on Cardinal Law. We here in Boston have a more immediate connection with the proceedings and can better appreciate the Omertà (Italian for “conspiracy of silence”) that was Catholic Boston and especially South Boston.  Would the film have been so compelling if the plot had been merely fiction? In my opinion, it is the sad truth of the situation that makes the viewing so powerful. On the other hand, the film could have been poorly done and could have become a boring sermon. Instead the entire construction is flawless. Some Catholics to this day cannot bring themselves to watch this film.

There are NO sex scenes in the film.

When the film is over, be sure to stay for the follow-up history that appears on the screen.  You will be horrified. For example, you will learn that the Pope rewarded Cardinal Law with a prestigious position in Rome which Law resigned when he (Law) reached 80 years of age. If you read the Wikipedia article, you will read:

In May 2012 MSNBC reported that Law was “the person in Rome most forcefully supporting” the Vatican response to Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori‘s petition to investigate and crack down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a large group of American nuns seeking a greater role in the Church.

According to mere word of mouth, Law once bragged he would be the first American pope. Instead he will probably be canonized as the “Patron Saint of Pedophiles.”

For me one striking visual experience was my trying to recognize the aging male actors from earlier films and TV shows (Rachel McAdams is too young to have changed much) :

  • Mark Ruffalo as Mike Rezendes still looks reasonably young.
  • Michael Keaton as Walter Robinson  is a far cry from his character in “Beetlejuice”.
  • Liev Schreiber as soft-spoken Marty Baron completely fooled me with his beard.
  • John Slattery as Ben Bradlee will always be one of the senior partners from “Mad Men”.
  • Will you recognize Stanley Tucci as the eccentric Mitchell Grabedian?
  • Jamey Sheridan as Jim Sullivan in the past played Captain James Deakins in “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. But do not miss him in “Handsome Harry“.
  • Paul Guilfoyle as Pete Conely will always be Capt. Jim Brass in “CSI”.
  • Do you suppose Len Criou (who plays Henry Reagan in “Blue Bloods”) was embarrassed to play Cardinal Law?

DO NOT MISS this film to remember.