Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

I don’t like mobster movies. Or books. Or TV series. For some reason the whole mobster concept bores me enough that I generally avoid these things like the plague. Now I must eat a big helping of proverbial crow, as I quite enjoyed Sam Mendes’ sophomore directorial effort Road to Perdition, despite (or perhaps even because of, who knows) the fact that it’s dripping in mobsters.

Tom Hanks stars as Mike Sullivan, who works for local mob boss John Rooney (Paul Newman). In grand soap opera tradition (no kidding, this same story played out on General Hospital), Sullivan was taken under the powerful wing of Rooney as a young man, offered work and emotional security, and became the loyal and dependable surrogate son. We enter the story as Sullivan’s secure, rigid and extremely segmented world begins to crumble.

Sullivan has a family. A wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and two sons, Michael (Tyler Hoechlin) and Peter (Liam Aiken). He is emotionless and distant, apparently a requirement of his profession. Or at least he seems to see it that way. His family has no real idea what he does for Mr. Rooney, and questions are cut off abruptly. His sons are growing up and becoming curious, especially twelve-year-old Michael. John Rooney also has a biological son, Connor (Daniel Craig). Connor is the privileged, but not the favored. He is filled with bitterness and resentment. He is unable to direct those feelings at his father, instead aiming the full force of his spoiled, immature scheming wrath at Sullivan.

The two simmering father/son relationships explode into chaos on one fateful evening on which young Michael’s curiosity gets the better of him. Connor takes advantage of what he sees as his chance to eliminate his “competition”. What follows is the story of hurt, betrayal and vengeance, with layer upon layer of motive guiding the wise and unwise decisions made by both Sullivan and Rooney. Sullivan and Michael eventually take to the road, the titular road to Perdition.

By far the most outstanding aspect of Road to Perdition is that it absolutely gorgeous. In a beautiful widescreen DVD transfer; every visual aspect of this film oozes perfection. The costumes, set design and amazing cinematography by Conrad L. Hall make this an extraordinarily visual experience. David Self’s screenplay is based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner. The filmmakers clearly took seriously their task of making this story as full of unforgettable images as possible. From the muted color palate of the depression to the fabulous exterior shots of 1931 Chicago, every scene is lovingly staged and filmed. Small things, like the look of snow in a Midwestern winter, the smoky blue gray of a car emerging from a bank of fog, the bleak exterior of a back roads diner, add up here, and in the end result in an absolutely beautiful film. There is one particular scene toward the end of the movie in which we see both a reflection in a window as well as the action behind that window. What makes the scene amazing is the absolute balance between the two images. Your eye must choose where to focus – this balance wavers not one bit for the entirety of the scene. Fabulous.

The story itself is not as tight as it could be. Sullivan and Michael (as stoic and brooding, respectively) are both too one-note through much of the movie to really evoke any passion or empathy. It is to the credit of Hanks that he manages to squeeze out every drop of emotional depth in his character during the second half of the film. Tyler Hoechlin doesn’t fare as well with Michael. With the focus on telling a visual story, the film is missing some exposition that would add depth to its main characters. In one segment, Michael is nursing an injured Sullivan, and the clear intent is for the father/son relationship to grow and change. While we understand the intent, the sequences are unfortunately too short and the dialogue too sparse to really convey this pivotal change with any impact. We get it, it just isn’t as engaging as it should be for such an important development of character. There are other places equally as telegraphed, and while this does keep the images flowing nicely, it doesn’t serve the overall story particularly well.

The peripheral characters fare much better than the Sullivans, particularly Newman’s John Rooney. His character is a delicious mix of menace, compassion and existential conflict that plays extremely well visually. Connor is a rather fun caricature of the simpering sire.

Hanks performance is solid, though hampered by his character. In his defense, a lesser actor would have been unable to bring even a hint of humanity to Sullivan. There is a sequence during the second half of the film where the tone lightens markedly and Hanks truly shines during these scenes. This segment is discordantly light in comparison with the rest of the film, but it is enjoyable on its own – primarily due to Hanks’ easy rapport with the camera.

Newman is wonderful. Frightening, frail, conflicted and repentant, Newman can do them all and deliver a character so complex that it’s impossible to decide whether to love or hate him. In a notable small role, Stanley Tucci is his usual excellent self – seemingly born to play a mid level mobster as he’s seemingly born to portray every character he plays.

The only performance that completely flops is that of Tyler Hoechlin as young Michael. His character is pretty unidimensional and he doesn’t have the skill to pull off the gradual and subtle changes we’re supposed to see. His changes are abrupt and jangling. He also provides the simply awful voice over narration that begins and ends the film. It’s hard to come down on a young kid trying to keep up with the rest of this cast, but I have to say it. He stinks. Needless to say, this negatively affects the film.

The score for Road to Perdition is, well, really loud. Normally this would be a major irritant, but here it somehow works. The music (Thomas Newman, John M. Williams) is what I can only describe as “ominously Irish”, and adds tremendously to the tone of the film. It serves as an excellent accompaniment to the overwhelmingly visual nature of the film. As the imagery is more dominant than the dialogue, the music can step in and fill that gap without drowning out the unfolding story.

The pace of the film is undeniably leisurely, but without any particular spots that drag. It’s a patient film, giving us time to absorb the visuals and read meaning into the terse exposition. The slow pace can be seen as either working to the films benefit or detriment, depending very much on the expectations and mood of the viewer. Even the bursts of violence have a deliberate quality that makes them more visceral and less action oriented.

Overall, Road to Perdition does work. While a little more dialogue here and there would help develop the main characters, the film isn’t really about dialogue. It’s about extrapolating meaning from what we see. And for the most part it allows us to do this very well. The only place it really suffers is in the growth of the two main characters, which is simply too subtle to have much impact. The imagery is glorious, as is the score. And for the most part, the actors dive into this visual style of filmmaking with gusto. All from a mobster movie. I think I’ll go have my crow now.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD