Road to Perdition

Synopsis
Directed by Sam Mendes and based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, the Depression-era crime epic ROAD TO PERDITION stars Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, a quiet hit man who is duty bound to Mafia boss John Rooney (Paul Newman). The mobster's close bond with Sullivan, however, leads Rooney's jealous blood son, Connor (Daniel Craig), to orchestrate a tragic series of events that results in Sullivan on the run with his 12-year-old son, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin). Soon an unscrupulous crime photographer/assassin named Maguire (Jude Law) is sent after Sullivan and his son, and Sullivan must decide on a course of action as young Michael comes to terms with his father's violent way of life.

Meticulously directed by Mendes and brilliantly photographed by Conrad Hall, each scene of ROAD TO PERDITION has the composition of an expertly crafted painting. Making effective use of rain, snow, and shadows, the filmmakers create a cinematic world that's as dark, cold, and unforgiving as many of its inhabitants. But the film also allows for glimpses of emotional warmth, particularly in Sullivan's relationships with his son and Rooney, his surrogate father. In these roles, the respective actors create complex characters that resonate even in their restraint. Hanks is outstanding as a man of action with little time for words, while Hoechlin creates an unsentimental portrait of a confused boy; Newman once again proves why he's a screen legend and, in a strikingly unflattering role, Law makes the most out of his screen time as a creepy, parasitic hit man. Even in its harshest moments, however, Mendes never fails to remind the audience that ROAD TO PERDITION is a film about fathers and sons; and this is what elevates it from an atmospheric gangster movie to a truly astonishing work of art.

Reviews
"...Because it is so careful with its effects, this film's ability to create feeling sneaks up and surprises....This is a story with a will to move us and the ability to do whatever it takes to make that happen..." (Los Angeles Times)

"...A truly majestic visual poem....Mr. Hanks does a powerful job..." (New York Times)

"...ROAD TO PERDITION has the juice to get its hooks into you, knock you off balance and keep you that way for two hours. It's a triumph for director Sam Mendes..." (Rolling Stone)

"...[Law] helps bring this dark, strange, and ultimately moving film into disturbing places of the sort that most studio movies can't even imagine, let alone depict..." (Premiere)

"...Beautifully made, well-acted, brilliantly photographed..." (Chicago Sun-Times)

"...There's inventiveness, intelligence, even brilliance here..." (Total Film)

"...Hanks and Newman are radiant with the blessings of unstopped talent, two greats from two generations who each understand the power of underplaying..." (Entertainment Weekly)

3 stars out of 5 -- "[The film] pulls off the nifty trick of being both impressively epic and movingly intimate." (Empire)