The Road to Perdition

A finer cast of actors would be difficult to find, but does the material warrant the talent involved? Delve deeper inside.

Road to Perdition was hailed early on as a wonderful cinematic achievement, complete with fantastic acting and a gripping and powerful story. With the combined effort of two of Hollywood's finest, Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, audiences around the country were getting primed for a slice of theatrical dramatic heaven. What some may not have known is that this film consists of a grim, dark, and depressing chain of events.

When watching the movie, you must continually remind yourself that you are watching a story about murderers and criminals, not a story about good family men (pardon the pun) in a bit of a business dispute. This is a story of a man and his son, and the relationship that they have together. This relationship moves forward through catastrophic and intensely emotional situations, and underneath it all, we find the humanity beneath the grisly surface.

The movie begins with a child weaving his way through the streets of 1931 New York, and it's here you will witness one of the finer cinematic events of the film. You will never once believe for a second that you're looking at a movie set; the environments are truly realistic and lifelike. The boy is young Michael Sullivan, Jr., played by newcomer Tyler Hoechlin.

All he knows about his father, Michael Sullivan, Sr. (Tom Hanks), is that he is a stern businessman who works closely with the most important man in town, John Rooney (Paul Newman). All of this mystery changes suddenly, when one night the child stows away in his father's car and witnesses a gruesome murder... a murder that his father is directly involved in.

While Mr. Rooney is willing to trust Sullivan and the boy about "their little secret," his son, Connor (Daniel Craig), wants to take no such chances, as he was the one who pulled the trigger in the first place. In a brutal act of desperation, he robs Michael Sullivan, Sr. of his family, but misses Michael Jr. and a trap to kill Michael Sr. backfires. Obviously, Sullivan wants two things: revenge, and safety for his only surviving son.

As the movie unfolds, we watch the relationship between father and son unfold as well. They begin to speak more often, and Michael Jr. learns some things about his father that he never knew before. He didn't love him any less than his deceased brother; he simply wanted to save his son from the life that he led. "You were more like me. I didn't want you to grow up to be like me."

Newman and Hanks give powerful performances, as expected, and the Hoechlin is a fine choice for the role of Michael Sullivan, Jr. The chemistry between the Hanks and Hoechlin works very well on screen, as we can sense the tension early on, and the love as the movie nears its climax. Newman, as always, is convincing and flawless in his portrayal of the conflicted John Rooney. "You are asking me to hand you the key to my son's room so you can go in there and pull the trigger. And I can't do that."

Jude Law plays a decidedly creepy character named Maguire, a hitman hired by Capone to take care of Sullivan. He takes pictures of the dead (some of whom died by his hand), and has a dark, sinister way about him. Sullivan, on the other hand, is more of a no-nonsense, quiet type that simply does his job and goes home at the end of the day. It's always more unsettling when one of the men enjoys what he does... and both are murderers.

The amazing thing about Tom Hanks is that he can fit into just about any role. I believed Hanks with a tommy gun in the exact same way I believed him in the heartbreaking role of an man stricken with AIDS in "Philadelphia" and a low-I.Q. yet good-hearted man in "Forrest Gump." He did not win the Academy Award for Best Actor for this movie as he did in those other two though, as he was not nominated.

Paul Newman was nominated for Best Supporting Actor however, and the movie was also up for a couple more awards, and deservedly so. It's a tale of shocking betrayal and brutality, but told in a way that allows us to see the other side of the darkness, the side that is good and decent, the role of a father. Sam Mendes, who also directed "American Beauty," understood this when he made this movie.

"Some people think Michael Sullivan was a decent man. Others believe there was no good in him at all. When they ask me, I answer the only way I know how: he was my father."

Ben S. Dutka
DVD Reviewer, Kikizo Movies