| Buy the DVD |   |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Year: | 2002 |
| Rating: | R |
| Length: | 1h 57mins |
| Cast: | Sam Mendes, Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law |
Unquestionably one of 2002's best films, this Depression-era crime drama demonstrates yet again that erstwhile sitcom star Tom Hanks is one of Hollywood's finest actors. It also vindicates the judgment of critics who maintain that Sam Mendes (American Beauty) is among the most talented directors working today. Based on a graphic novel written by detective-story scribe Max Allen Collins, Perdition begins in a small midwestern city where Michael Sullivan (Hanks) works as an enforcer for his adopted father, Irish gangster John Rooney (Paul Newman). When Sullivan's son, Mike Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin), witnesses one of his father's killings on Rooney's behalf, the gangster decides that his ward and his family are liabilities that must be removed. Mendes, working from a script that considerably expands on the Collins story, tells several stories simultaneously; the plot principally revolves around Sullivan's efforts to safeguard his son and get even with the man who betrayed him, but it also focuses on the boy's efforts to bond with his emotionally distant father, and in a tertiary sense it's about the internal conflicts of a lawbreaking man governed by his own peculiar code of honor while functioning in a hopelessly corrupt and amoral societal structure. Mendes eschews flashy visual effects and quick cutting in favor of elegantly composed shots and subtle camera moves. This directorial restraint is carried over to the performances, which are mostly understated (Hanks, for example, suggests far more than he shows, forcing viewers to use their imaginations). The one exception is Jude Law, whose turn as a hired assassin is delightfully eccentric and over-the-top. Road to Perdition could have been a florid, melodramatic shoot-'em-up, but Mendes's inspired direction and the solidly grounded performances of Hanks and Newman made it something very special. This is a film viewers will want to see many times. Mendes offers a feature-length commentary for the DVD, which also includes deleted scenes, and an HBO "making-of" documentary. Ed Hulse
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