Review of Road to Perdition (2002) by Ben H — 06 Sep 2013

Road to Perdition appeared on the surface to be a comic book style mafia story, but that's because I misread the context. That threw me off the first time I watched it. Re-watching it the second time changed my view entirely.

There are still issues, such as the very slow pacing sometimes causing my mind to drift off, and the fact that I felt like much of the story's context which took place before the time period of the film wasn't thoroughly explained and so the whole subject of the murdered family was left a little ambiguous to me.

Also, some of the characters I just found to have difficulty understanding or connecting with, with a sense that things were somewhat scattered in terms of characters, and the script had bumps along the road. Nevertheless, Road to Perdition was good.

For one thing the style that Road to Perdition is built on fits the profile strongly as it embodies a classical gangster style. In director Sam Mendes' first effort after his 1999 Best Picture winning masterpiece American Beauty, he applies a great production design to his adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name, as well as fine costumes, a strong musical score and excellent cinematography. But above all is a powerful atmosphere, a gritty and simple one which deals with the thematics of family difficulties and.

Mafia issues. And the story takes place from the perspective of the enforcer this time which is really an interesting view on the issue, particularly because he's the character audiences support and connect with, mainly because he's the protagonist, a father and he's played by Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks' performance is great. He had all the charisma a gangster needs and considering that he's against type in Road to Perdition, he works against it strongly. He has the perfect look thanks to beneficial costuming, makeup and hairstyling, and his performance has clearly been worked hard to perfect into matching the look.

And although Paul Newman's screen time is minimal, he manages to make his final onscreen performance a real coup de grace, articulating his words and line delivery strongly and confidently, and so watching his character die in his last moment on screen is like witnessing Paul Newman himself die, and his performance ensures he goes out with a bang.

Tyler Hoechlin also did a great job, holding his position nearly equally as well as Tom Hanks, ensuring that despite his character's scriptural errors, he works through them and provides a great amount of charisma for the role and fits the profile of playing Tom Hanks' son very well.

Jude Law and Daniel Craig were also good.

So Road to Perdition is slow and complex, but benefits from a fine cast and stylish direction from Sam Mendes.