Road to Perdition (2002)

Well crafted script with top notch performances and stunning photography. Perfect blend for a period film... All set for a ride... Just lived it

Road to Perdition is a fantastic movie with a very well developed plot and a tremendous cast. It is a deeply engaging film from beginning to end as we follow a devoted father and husband seeking revenge on those who killed his father and son. The relationship that develops between Michael and his other, surviving son is powerful and heart wrenching, as we are at a constant concern for their safety. I did find that it moved a little slowly at times. This is not a huge issue, but I simply felt it did not pick up the pace at certain points. The performances are all around fantastic, Tom Hanks is completely immersed in to this role that is unlike anything else I have seen him in. He owns this dark, dreary character from beginning to end. Tyler Hoechlin is also very engrossed in to his character, certainly being one of the most impressive child stars I have seen in any film or TV show, with the likes of Paul Newman, Daniel Craig and Ciarán Hinds also bringing in top notch acting. Powerful and uplifting. Beautifully acted and edge of your seat suspense, I would recommend Road to Perdition to anyone looking for a good drama or thriller. A hitman seeks revenge on his family's killers along with his surviving son. Best Performance: Tom Hanks

Sam Mendes's Road To Perdition reads like Oscar bait on the surface, but it's anything but once it gets down to business. Based on a downbeat graphic novel, it's a dark and tragic downward spiral of violence, betrayal and crime with beautifully acted characters and burnished, shadowy cinematography that brings the pages of the book to life in moody, snow blanketed detail. Tom Hanks, taking a chance and playing a rougher character for once in his goody two shoes career, is Michael Sullivan, enforcer for small town Irish mob boss John Rooney, played with force and feeling by Paul Newman in his final cinematic outing. Rooney treats Sullivan like a son, as his own offspring (Daniel Craig, cast way against type and loving it) is an insidious, hateful psychopath. After Craig needlessly murders a subordinate (Ciaran Hinds) and Sullivan's youngest son (Taylor Hoechlin, excellent) inadvertently witnesses it, Sullivan is left no choice but to go on the run after his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and youngest child (Liam Aiken) are subsequently slaughtered. The rift that forms between Hanks and Newman is tough to watch, a paternal relationship soured by the ugliness of the lives they live, violence finding its way in and grabbing hold of any goodness that once was, like it always does. Forced to seek help from infamous Chicago gangster Frank Nitti (Stanley Tucci), Sullivan soon finds himself on his own and fast becoming a vigilante with a short life span amongst the underworld, especially when a dangerous assassin (a rodent like Jude Law) is dispatched to kill him. Sullivan knows his way around both a pistol and a tommy gun though, and won't go down in a hail without raising hellfire first. There's a calmness to the action scenes, the most hectic of which is accompanied by no sound effects whatsoever, just simply a lyrical piece of the score, cushioning the violence with mood instead of hammering us with the sound of bullets. It's a revenge piece, no doubt, but it's also a careful treatise on how a parent's actions and choices can affect their young, and in cases of extreme peril or trauma, sometimes bring them closer together where there once was distance. My only real issue with the film is the casting of Jennifer Jason Leigh, a unique, mesmerizing force on camera whose talents are wasted here in the throwaway wife role, getting to do basically nothing. There's a deleted scene featuring Anthony Lapaglia as lively Al Capone, which is not in the final film but can be found on YouTube. Hanks and Newman anchor the film respectively, as hard, determined men who would rather see things go in a more agreeable way, but have both left each other no choice other than willfully striding towards bitter ends. There's an eerie poetry in that which the film captures perfectly.

I had a largely mixed reaction to Sam Mendes' sophomore effort, Road to Perdition. The tale of family betrayal and loyalty is an exceptionally well crafted film, populated with a quartet of fantastic performances, and packed with visual style. However, the film's incessant somberness and poor central performance weigh these great elements down. Taken together, Road to Perdition's pros outnumber and overpower its cons, leading to a solid whole.Road to Perdition follows the interconnected Rooney mob family of Chicago in 1931. Michael Sullivan is a mob enforcer, who, as an orphan, was taken in by the patriarch of the mob, John Rooney (Paul Newman). When Sullivan's own son, Michael Jr.(Tyler Hoechlin), witnesses one of his father's mob hits, Rooney takes steps to silence his own extended family.The story is a gripping one. The surface layer plot involving a cat and mouse chase between Sullivan and his son, John Ronney's son Connor (Daniel Craig) and a hired henchman named Maguire (Jude Law) through the Prohibition Era Midwest, is intensely exciting. What's more is that beneath the surface of Road to Perdition lies a poignant family drama. The tension between Rooney's blood and adopted children is palpable, as is the cold distance between Sullivan and his son. The movie is a feast of father and son drama, and it tackles the issues it raises from every possible angle. Road to Perdition is one of the most insightful movies I've seen on the relationships of sons and the men they look up to.The big themes of Road to Perdition stand out thanks to four major performances from Hanks, Craig, Law, and Newman. Hanks is a fine anchor for the story as a distant father who's instinct drives him to do anything to protect his son. Craig's jealous mob heir is a compelling screen presence, who is both empathetic and completely remorseless. It may be the blonde Bond's best performance ever. Jude Law is equally affecting as the hit-man with a thing for photographing dead (or dying) bodies. As good as these performances are, the big scene-stealer is Newman. Even with a limited amount of time on screen, his John Rooney is a commanding figure torn between the lives of his two sons. I can't imagine anyone else in the role, and without him the movie would not have near the impact it does.I should mention the performance that doesn't work, and it's a big one. Tyler Hoechlin is miscast as the protagonist, and for a story that requires him to balance screen time with Tom Hanks, his acting just doesn't cut it. Hoechlin is totally out of place as a Prohibition Era adolescent with his chiseled jawline and budding good looks, as well as his contemporary speech pattern. I never believed Hoechlin in the era, or even as a normal kid. He is so abnormally handsome (Something that makes him perfect as Superman in the Supergirl TV Show) that the seed of the performance he does give is rendered useless. Nothing about him seems genuine, and that almost dooms the entire film.Luckily, Road to Perdition's lush visual style and overflowing craftsmanship overpower the Hoechlin performance. Thanks to Mendes, cinematographer Conrad Hall, and a cast of other talented collaborators, every shot of Road to Perdition is a triumph of lighting, set design, and cinematography. The deep shadows, inventive camera angles, and artistic art direction are all evocative of the graphic novel from which the story is based. The film is an absolute marvel to look at -- a rich, heightened world of fedoras, tommy guns, and rain that comes down in buckets. Mendes' direction is also more than admirable. The scenes of suspense rival the best of Coppola or the Coen brothers, and the shootouts are frenetic, exciting, and tense as all Hell. There are a few shots here that are masterpieces of staging -- literal works of moving art.Sam Mendes has enjoyed an interesting career, coming out of the gate with a modern masterpiece and slowly transforming into a 007 fixture. Road to Perdition lands somewhere in between the sharp suburban drama of American Beauty and the mature action of Skyfall. Mendes can't help but lather on the drama in Road to Perdition, and often it is too much. Sometimes you just want the film to play the family dynamics straight, without the unnecessary flairs, specifically in the dialogue. Even with flaws that would sink most pictures, Road to Perdition continually succeeds in telling what is a genuinely engaging story. Taken on a scene-by-scene basis, Road to Perdition has enough Oscar-caliber performances and cinematography to lesson the impact of the miscast lead and relentlessly somber tone. There's a Hollywood classic lying somewhere inside Road to Perdition, and even if it never fully lives up to its potential, it is still an incredibly stylish and exciting father and son story.74/100