Crime and Punishment- The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Usual Suspects (1995) and Road to Perdition (2002)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is a classic thriller starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, a young FBI cadet trying to work her way up in the investigative ranks, as it were, and she catches a big break when she is asked to work alongside a senior detective on the Buffalo Bill serial killer case. She is asked to get close to Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins), an incarcerated serial killer and psychiatrist, and learn everything she can in order to aid in the case. As they always do with psychopaths, however, things go awry.

Jonathan Demme directed this film, and I must say that it is extremely scary for a thriller. At all times, the viewer is made to feel, through the shot structure or the music or the scenery, extremely uneasy... Though the jumpscares are few in number, they do not lack in effectiveness. The real talking point on this film, however, has to be performances. Anthony Hopkins's performance as Lecter won him the Oscar for best leading actor, and Foster's as Starling won her best leading actress, and rightfully so. Foster's performance was all about forced emoting. Since her character was overcompensating for her stature and background and, frankly, her gender, she tended to keep her emotions in check. For Foster to play Clarice in a way that makes her stern and yet relatable and sympathetic took real talent. On the other hand, Hopkins's performance was all about terror, and making Lecter seem calm, yet terrifying and unpredictable at all times. Overall, great movie, 5 out of 5 pieces of skin that I need to finish my skin suit!

       

The Usual Suspects (1995) quickly made it on my all-time favorites list after I watched it. Starring yet another of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey, it tells the story of five former convicts, each from a different background, each with a unique set of skills, rounded up for a police lineup. Their respective framing and desire for money or vengeance throws them into an uneasy partnership, which proves troublesome, deadly, and, in the end, very twisty... (no spoilers).

The story is what makes this movie so good, for me anyway, but I can't talk about that without spoiling the entire thing. What I can talk about is Kevin Spacey's fantastic performance. The character he plays is the most important in the film for many reasons, primarily because the narration is him relaying the story to a couple of detectives. The part was tailored for Spacey's voice; his cadence, his pitch, the interesting things he says, all make for not only an interesting story being relayed, but an extremely interesting character being played. Great performance, great story, and very funny! 5 out of 5 members of the gang, each special in his own way.

     

Road to Perdition (2002) features the all-star lineup of Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law and Daniel Craig. This one is all about hitmen and mob bosses in 1931 Chicago, and there's really no way to explain the story without spoiling it.  All you need to know is, its a story of hitman vengeance and mob mentality, but also the story of the bond between father and son.

The big ticker for this film is the performances. All four of the aforementioned actors balance their performances in the simplest way: good versus evil. Each character has a different ratio. Hanks's is mostly good, with a MEAN streak or two to keep things interesting, while Craig and Law have characters of almost pure evil, Overall, decent film, 3.5 out of 5 bullets left in the tommy gun. I don't quite know how half a bullet works, but we'll find out I suppose.