Review of Road to Perdition (2002) by Xgary X — 04 Nov 2012

Enforcer Tom Hanks is forced to go on the run when his son witnesses a mob hit in his gloriously photographed gangster related road movie from Sam Mendes. In fact little about the film can be faulted technically; all the performances are first rate, it looks absolutely gorgeous and the score is haunting and beautiful.

The brief explosions of violence counterpoint the warmth of the father-son relationship well and Mendes' particular brand of visual elegance is particularly pleasing. In fact it's hard to believe that the film is an adaptation of a comic book as it all feels very adult, preferring to explore the characters and their relationships to the kind of comic strip violence you'd usually associate with the genre, which makes for an unusually moving story considering the story revolves around Tommy gun toting gangsters.

A refreshingly different take on the crime thriller.