Road To Perdition
(2002)
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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. |
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Director Sam Mendes here follows up his superlative Oscar winner American Beauty with another riveting, intelligent drama imbued with lyrical imagery. Based on a graphic novel set during the Depression era, it features Tom Hanks as a feared hitman working for Irish-American Mob boss Paul Newman, the man who raised him as a son. Professional and familial loyalties become blurred when Hanks's own family is targeted, forcing him to take to the road with his eldest son, as he embarks on a systematic course of revenge against his betrayers. Comparable to the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing, this evocative gangster movie boasts superb photography, production design and score, which utterly transport the audience back to moody 1930s Chicago. Cast against type, Hanks — whose haunted eyes speak volumes — is a model of unruffled understatement, while an intimidating Newman radiates his usual strong presence. Jude Law's eccentric killer feels too much like a colourful movie creation, but is the only minor setback in a remarkable second feature from Mendes.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Visually splendid crime thriller, with a balletic finale in the rain; but the approach is too ponderous to be entirely engaging and Hanks makes an unconvincing killer.