A couple of weeks ago I watched A Time to Kill with a friend, and the next night we watched Road to Perdition. 
They were both randomly picked because she had not seen either one, so
I did not expect them to speak to each other in any kind of profound
way.  And I definitely did not expect that watching these two
movies would turn out to be a miniature study in revenge and reciprocal
violence.

I have always enjoyed A Time to Kill,
mostly for the rich cast and the shameless emotional jabs.  But it
is hard to avoid the fact that Carl Lee's murder of the two rednecks is
celebrated.  The movie recognizes the strength of the emotional
reaction to the rape, and then it exploits that reaction.  We are
supposed to be happy that Carl Lee kills them, and we are supposed to
be happy that he is freed in the end, with no consequences whatsoever
for an intentional, lucid double murder.  Regional politics are
exploited to suggest that it would be a racial injustice if he went to
prison.  The book recognizes the tension and complexity that
should exist here, but the film mostly ignores it.  (The way it
approaches adultery is much more interesting and worth discussing, but
not here.)

Road to Perdition,
though, does not celebrate violence.  With the exception of a
climactic scene on a rainy street, there is nothing heroic or
redemptive about murder...instead it is chilling and difficult to
watch.  And the only true sense of hope comes at the end, when it
is suggested that Sullivan's son will escape the cycle of reciprocal
violence.  In that moment, this actually becomes quite an
inspirational film; there is a sense of redemption that comes after
young Sullivan puts down the gun, having never fired it.

These
two films handle revenge and violence in fundamentally different ways,
and this is a theme I am starting to see in many of the movies I
watch.  It is interesting to see how violence is portrayed, and it
is perhaps even more interesting to see how people react to that
portrayal.  What do those reactions say about the viewers?

This
kind of thing makes me appreciate movies and the commentary they might
offer - even movies that display things I am opposed to.  And this
is something that I imagine many of my friends will never even attempt
to understand.  But if you're interested, try to look at the
themes being presented in the movies that you watch.  Then pay
attention to the ways that you react, and that people around you
react.  Then maybe think about those themes and reactions in the
context of your worldview.  And you might be surprised by what you
can learn.

And if you have never seen either of those movies, I
am terribly sorry about ruining the endings.  They are both still
worth watching.