Road to Perdition (2002)

Starring Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig.
Directed by Sam Mendes.
Written by David Self.
Based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner.
Distributed by DreamWorks SKG and 20th Century Fox.
119 minutes.

LVJeff's Rating: 8/10

Atypical Gangster Movie

I found many similarities between Sam Mendes's Road to Perdition and M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. The latter is an atypical superhero movie, while Perdition is an atypical gangster flick. Both are filmed as if they were comic books presented on a movie screen. Both are dark, somber, and slow. Both have a father trying to earn the respect of his son.

However, I loved Unbreakable whereas I only liked Road to Perdition, and this may only have to do with a difference in themes and their presentations. Unbreakable was about discovery, and Shyamalan creates a lot of wonder in the process of telling his story. Its viewers may not know they are watching a superhero movie, but they find out along the way. Road to Perdition is about a gangster's redemption, and Mendes presents the theme straight up with no surprises. The movie is as different a gangster picture as its viewers are likely to find, but its redemption story is one they've all heard before.

A seasoned moviegoer can call all the events that are about to happen before they happen in Perdition. The ending climax and epilogue were especially easy to predict for me. Meanwhile, the depth of the movie's subject matter doesn't go very far beyond "fathers are imperfect beings who nevertheless can forge special bonds of respect with their sons."

And yet the movie is enjoyable, due in large part to Mendes's direction and the talents of his cast and crew. Road to Perdition is based on a graphic novel, which fits Mendes and cinematographer Conrad Hall's every-shot-is-framed-straight-and-centered style perfectly. The film contains a lot of beautiful scenes that one can freeze-frame and make postcards out of -- a boy sitting at the dining table in the dark; an aerial shot of a lone car on a desolate road; a hit man with a rifle sticking out from under his coat, walking towards the screen; a high view of an assassin with a handgun in his outstretched arm, heading down a long hallway. The use of shadows, slow-scrolling camera work, and composer Thomas Newman's distinct score greatly enhance the sadness that pervades the whole movie.

And few things look cooler onscreen than period '30's-gangsters. Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Jude Law fill their long coats and hats so handsomely that one wonders why such fashion ever went out of style. All of them become the embodiments of their characters' respective personalities. Hanks is blue collar, stoic, desperate yet calm. Newman is wise, smooth, yet tired. The audience can see the sadness in the eyes of both men every time they are on screen. Meanwhile, Law is perfectly cast as a psychotic menace. I haven't seen a villain this chilling in a while, and all Law had to do was stand there, with a bowler on his head and a cold look on his pretty-boy face.

Such a good-looking picture deserved to have more depth and unpredictability in its story. But it does stand out as a personal and unique entry in a time-worn genre, and that may be good enough. Like David Finch's Panic Room and Christopher Nolan's Insomnia earlier this year, Road to Perdition is mainly a style exercise for its renowned director -- but oh what a beautiful exercise it is.

©Jeffrey Chen, Jul. 13, 2002

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