Road to Perdition
ROAD TO PERDITION (15)
D: Sam Mendes
20th Century Fox/Dreamworks (Richard D. Zanuck, Dean
Zanuck & Sam Mendes)
US 2002
116 mins
Crime/Thriller
W: David Self [based on the graphic novel by Max Allan
Collins & Richard Piers Rayner]
DP: Conrad L. Hall
Ed: Jill Bilcock
Mus: Thomas Newman
PD: Dennis Gassner
Cos: Albert Wolsky
Tom Hanks (Michael Sullivan), Paul
Newman (John Rooney), Jude Law (Maguire), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Annie Sullivan), Stanley Tucci (Frank Nitti), Daniel Craig (Connor Rooney), Tyler Hoechlin (Michael
Sullivan, Jr.)
Sam Mendes' follow-up to American Beauty (qv) didn't quite
set the box office alight in the way the director or producers would have hoped, possibly due to a poor marketing campaign and confusion about it's target audience, but aside from that it's a
well made and thoroughly enjoyable piece of crime cinema and amongst the very best films of 2002.
Tom Hanks stars a gangster whose son witnesses a mob hit
and the two go on the road together following the murder of their other family members by their own gangland family. The father-son team seek their own revenge by targeting banks which hold
illegal mob funds, all while evading a sadistically dangerous mob assassin (Jude Law).
The film recreates 1930's America wonderfully, with
impeccable production design, costumes, cinematography and direction. Paul Newman and other supporting cast members deliver excellent performances, but Hanks, despite his best efforts, feels
miscast as an anti-hero.
8/10
