Review of Road to Perdition (2002) by Stephen M — 11 Mar 2011

Sam Mendes helms this fantastic gangster film of the '30s, a decade where no gangster film can go wrong. Tom Hanks and Tyler Hoechlin star as the seemingly estranged father and son pair on the run from the Irish mob after Hoechlin witnesses his father, a hit man, at work.

Paul Newman gives an outstanding performance as the top dog of the mob with a strong sense of moral, but also a strong sense of power over everyone else. His foolish son, played by the equally skilled Daniel Craig, proves himself to be exaclty that after making mistake after mistake that lands him in deeper and deeper trouble.

Stanley Tucci co-stars as Frank Nitti, Al Capone's infamous top dog, who also turns on Hanks after having been good friends, apparently for so long. Hanks, after Craig murdered his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and younger son (Liam Aiken) seeks revenge and will stop at nothing to get it while also protecting his son from harm.

Hanks takes to robbing Capone's banks in order to bribe him to hand over Craig, who is now in Tucci's protection. Tucci hires Jude Law, an eccentric photgrapher who shoots pictures of the dead "for the press".

Law does a good job being creepy, weird, and actually pretty scary as a man clearly out of his mind. To help the image, he's given yellow teeth and long fingernails and is often flipping a coin in his fingers out of habit.

As Hanks hunts down Craig, Law hunts down Hanks. The art direction and set design magnifisently capture 1930s Chicago and the significant power the mob had over everything and everyone around. Hanks and Hoechlin are a great father-and-son, love/hate pair who's family bond ultimately prevails.

And the same can be said for Newman and Craig, though for better or worse is left for the audience to reflect on. The screenplay, adapted off a graphic novel, is a fantastic mix of action and deep emotion as the father/son bond initially developes between the two.

A-.