Rating: 
Summary: Pure Cinema classic.
Review: To be honest I want it to see this movie since the day I knew Sam Mendez was gonna do it my only worry was if was going to be a worthy succsor for American Beauty and for my surprise the answer is, yes. The acting is solid, with Hanks doing a better performance than in Cast Away and Green Mile and Newman coming back of the acting grave and put the almost unrecognizable Jude Law that make a great performance, the kid was good and the others of the cast were great. Sam Mendez direction was incredible and the cinematography make the movie a classic.
However it doesn't feel like The Godfather so don't compare because this movie stand out on his own. Is Great and a movie like this should't be forgotten so instead of go and seeing awful movies like Scooby Doo go and see a great movie like Road o Perdition.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good movie.
Review: It's a good movie but not a great movie. I think Road to perdition is getting overrated bigtime with comparisons to the godfather. The Godfather is moviemaking at it's greatist but road to perdition to me is very good and worth seeing but after all the hype about it was almost disapointing. All the acting was good in the movie. Tom Hanks of course play a excellent role but to me was not much compared to some of his other great roles like Forest Gump or Cast Away. His acting was good but not great. To me the biggest flaw in this movie was thier wasn't enough dialogue and that left me a little bord during the movie at times but not much. So overall if you want to see a godfather like movie classic you won't, but if you want to see a good well made movie you will.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I'm not lying when I say I beleived in Perdition's greatness from thge start, and mediocre reveiws failed to sway my need to see this movie. And so I payed for tickets, ice cream and all the other crap you have to by to see a movie, and I saw it, and beleive me, it was WONDERFUL! I was never really into movies till early this year until I saw the overrated Lord of the rings, and then I caught up with movies, from Casablanca to Braveheart, I watched all the good ones, and let me say this, this movie is almost as good and moving as The Shawshank redemption! It is a beautiful movie, atmosphere, plot and cinematography. And Thomas Newman(The Shawshank Redemption) provides another excellent score, It would be an understatement to say This is the best movie music I've ever heard, in fact, the only way to do justice to this music(and movie) s to see it and hear the wonderful work of thomas newman.
The plot goes like this, Micheal Sullivan(Tom Hanks) is a hitman for someguy named looney(or loony, or something)(paul newman), an old man in charge of a "institute" of hitmen. He has a wife(Jennifer Jason Leigh) and two sons, Micheal and peter(tyler hoachlen and some other guy). After a funeral at Looney's place, Micheal wonders What his father does for a living and sneaks into his car while he drives to his next "assighnment"
and watches as his father, with Looneys sun connor, guns down the brother of the man the funeral was for. Micheal assures connor that Micheal jr won't talk. Despite that connor sets micheal up to be killed and as Micheal gets out of this scenario, connor Murders Peter and Micheal's wife. Enrages, Micheal and Micheal escape with to Chigago with A hired mercinary, Mcguire(Jude Law) and connor on his tail.
I'm getting sick of this so let's say that everyone gives a great performance and that you should see this movie no matter what!
Rating:
Summary: More Nominations
Review: There are still 5 months for studios to release and create hype for their films, but year to date I don't believe a better film tailored for awards has been released. Tom Hanks will likely be nominated for best actor, I don't know the rules that qualify for best supporting actor, but the sentimental favorite would be Paul Newman, and an equally legitimate nomination would be for Jude Law. Sam Mendes once again has directed a film that is cinematography to be admired, so 6 or 7 nominations are easily possible. The film also was very attentive to period detail, so that could raise the number of nominations further. I was looking forward to this film as much as any movie on offer this year. "The Road To Perdition", is very good, but it is not excellent. However when the film has its moments they are destined to be classics. If I had to pick a single sequence it would be Paul Newman and Tom Hanks playing a duet on the piano. This scene raises a sore subject with me and that is the rarity of great actors appearing in the same film and producing excellent cinema. I would offer Paul Newman and Robert Redford, in both, "The Sting", and "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid", as just two of many examples. True, we have Newman and Hanks together here, but Newman is in an important but minor role as measured by the time he is onscreen. I am not suggesting that the cast of, "Ocean's 11", with its group of younger stars are all the caliber of Hanks and Newman, but when all that talent is gathered and then brilliantly directed by a man like Steven Soderbergh, the results are excellent. A comment about excessive violence when speaking of a mob film may sound out of place, but here it is appropriate. A mother and child are executed by the psychotic misfit who plays the son of Newman's character. The act and the results were not shown onscreen as the result would have been brutal to watch, and may have crossed the threshold of even an R rating. "The Godfather", for me, is the definitive film on organized crime, and the first of the three films has to be one of the finest pieces of film ever shot. The opening sequence when you see Brando's character from the back, the saturated colors, and lighting that is as good as any film, sets the standard. Many scenes in Perdition strive for that look but don't quite make it. Another film about the Irish Mob utilized the fedora topped hit man all but hidden by the brim of his hat. This is used in this film as well, but it just brings another film to mind. When Michael Corleone has his brother killed the audience did not see the actual killing, rather a boat with two people, then two gunshots, and finally a boat with a single person. The result was a very powerful moment of film. Perdition is not content with a shooting unless the audience watches the entire event in slow motion, from the 45 Colt placed to a man's head, a trigger pulled, and his slow fall to the floor. The scene is not dramatic, it's gratuitous. Jude Law's character again is overdone, is it not enough that he will happily accept a contract to kill a 12 year old to demonstrate who he is without adding a demented avocation? The film happily does not glorify organized crime and the misfits portrayed by some of the characters in the film. The storyline does take Newman's character from a man who may play by brutal rules to a man who will do anything to protect a son no person would tolerate much less kill for. The film is full of players that all claims to the contrary, have no values, no friends, no integrity, and no moral code. Some may defend this as Al Capone was one of organized crime's true psychotics, who literally died young and insane. And for all the talk about this film as a journey of discovery between father and son, I find the idea without any merit. With bodies of his family still warm, Hank's character hands a gun to his surviving son, and then teaches him to help rob banks during their 6 week road trip. And the ending is familiar as well. If you saw, "The Shootist", the 1976 film that was to be John Wayne's last, you have seen a very similar ending. But that film brought together a list of screen legends in addition to John Wayne. There was Lauren Bacall, Jimmy Stewart, and a young Ron Howard who has become a top director in Hollywood, Harry Morgan of MASH fame, and many others. This is certainly a film worth seeing. It is also a film that is a quite slow, has at least one plot hole, and ends without anyone having benefited or learned from the body count.
Rating:
Summary: Tom Hanks at His Best
Review: When I first read a synopsis for the movie, I was leery of seeing Tom Hanks (or Michael Sullivan, his character in "Road To Perdition) play a hit man. Here is an actor who earns his bread and butter playing nice guys (as in "Forrest Gump," "Saving Private Ryan," etc.) However, he brings redemption to the character of Michael Sullivan. Michael Sullivan is more than a hit man or a goon; he is also a father and a husband. Well, not to give too much of the movie away, but Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) is a hit man for a crime boss John Rooney (the great Paul Newman). When young Michael Sullivan Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin, on his way) accidentally witnesses one of his father's hits, their family life is out the door. Jude Law also puts in a great performance Maguire, a sadistic photographer/hit man who is on the trail of Michael Sullivan and his son. McGuire has to be one of the best movie villains I have seen this year; it gave me chill bumps to listen to him describe taking photographs of corpses. Stanley Tucci also has a nice small part in the film, as does Daniel Craig, who plays Connor Rooney, the weasly blood son of John Rooney, who envies Michael Sullivan because of his father's love for him. The scenery and sets in the movie are great also. Mendes uses odd camera angles and shots in some scenes, and the rain and snow really add to the overall mood of the movie. I was a great fan of "American Beauty," but Sam Mendes has outdone himself. I think I smell Academy Awards (sniff, sniff).
Rating:
Summary: One Of My Favorite Movies Ever!
Review: What can I say? Newman is unbelievable, Hanks is outstanding, and that little boy is amazing. Add the fact that it is directed by Sam Mendes, co-stars Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Stanley Tucci. Do I need to say anymore? GO SEE IT!!!
Rating:
Summary: Gangster Daddy
Review: Addicts to realism will find some flaws in this period gangster movie with many well-known stars in the major roles. One unusual contrivance occurs when Irish mob enforcer Michael Sullivan (played byTom Hanks) guns down rival gangsters with his young son watching. Naturally, eyewitnesses to murder are not popular with the big guys at the top of the mobster pyramid, even when they are children. But some of these guys are from the gang that couldn't shoot straight and instead of killing the eyewitness, they murder Sullivan's wife and youngest child. For Michael Sullivan, there is no way out except for life on the lam, with bad guys trying to blast him from every direction. In spite of airing every gangster movie cliche, this film manages to be very entertaining and engaging, with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman in the leading roles. Newman plays a leathery mob kingpin with understated toughness of character. Hanks gets to display a wide range of his talents as his character develops from hardened killer to sensitive dad.
Whatever may be lacking in the script is not lacking in the sets. Darkened scenes and rain-soaked streets are interesting backdrops for the blood-soaked mayhem. Scenes are lush and lavishly produced. The city of Chicago rises up before your eyes like a bustling glass and steel Mecca filled with Model T traffic. There's a diner scene which has Tom Hanks framed in the cafe window looking extremely Hopperesque, and a really exceptional assassination toward the end of the film when Hanks wets the bad guy down with three shots from his .45 semiautomatic. Moviegoers have seen guys shot to death in bathtubs before, but this time you don't see it until the mirrored door swings closed. In spite of the inspired cinematography, this film is no match for heavyweight gangster films like the Godfather sagas, Goodfellas, Casino, and others you may have seen. Reviewed by Moeursalen
Rating:
Summary: Road to Perdition is visual storyteller's bliss
Review: Sam Mendes is an intensely brilliant director, I've never seen all of American Beauty, but I'd seen enough of it to know that he has a way of visualizing things and working with people that create something special. Road to Perdition is a finely crafted movie, and the word here is craft. It's a film that relies on almost unbelievable detail in the aesthetics, but it's not all about looks. It's emotionally engaging...and it's really creepy. There are some parts of this movie that are so darned creepy that, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen (no kudos for being completely unpredictable, tsk tsk), I was still clutching my armrest because of the anxiety Hall, Newman, and Mendes (again) craftily and probably snickeringly put you through. You basically KNOW what's going to happen, but their timing is so unpredictable, and they give a wide array of possibilities visually and emotionally, so you don't know what you're going to see, or don't see. And last, this film, as much as it's a "ganstah" film, it has any number of honest and uncliched emotional scenes. They created their own world for their story to exist in. And it's aesthetically beautiful, it's like walking through a moving depression era art gallery. The score is Thomas Newman all the way, I think it's one of his best because where it may sound awkward, it fits the film perfectly and is gorgeous. Lastly, to illustrate what I've said in the last two paragraphs, I'll give an example: Sullivan's family has been murdered (in an intensely filmed scene), and his son is the first to come home, after which Hanks' character runs upstairs, already having guessed what happened, and all we see is a shot of the house with a heartrending scream to high heaven. We already know what has happened, but our anxiety in what will occur is embedded in how the characters react. As for acting: Tom Hanks is really great, the trailer doesn't do him justice, Tyler Hoechlin is great, Daniel Craig is a fantastic newcomer, and Jude Law is THE BEST. He's nasty and maniacal and sleazy down to his fingernails. Paul Newman fit into the movie perfectly, it's odd though to see him old and gentlemanly, when I'm used to Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy, Hud, or whatshisface in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. This movie is a film that holds too much for one viewing. It still eludes me as to how someone could create a film like this, but here it is, and I recommend you seeing it. It's not all depth and ponderous melancholy, it keeps you engaged better than you might imagine, because you care for the people it represents.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Acting; Great art direction & production values
Review: That ROAD TO PERDITION looks so good almost masks the fact the story is utterly predictable and reviewers who compare it with THE GODFATHER are misleading. The Godfather saga is justly reputed milestone in American film making. PERDITION is "merely" high class gangster adventure.(It's based on a graphic novel. Some--like Frank Miller's DARK KNIGHT RETURNS--warrant mythic status; others are "cool" comic books.)The plot blends a fictional Irish mob led by Paul Newman in temporary cahoots with the Capone Gang and is intriguing. Stanley Tucci is excellent as Al's notorious Enforcer, Frank Nitti,exuding quiet menace as CEO in day-to-day Syndicate Business. Jude Law plays a venemous Dutch Schultz "clone" assigned by Capone's MURDER INCORPORATED arm to kill Hanks. Tom Hanks is unsurprisingly excellent as Newman's former Enforcer; now-on-the-run because his young son--played by Tyler Hoechlin--saw a "hit" that not only shouldn't have been seen,but never should have happened. Newman's "weak sister" son--played like Commodus in GLADIATOR by Daniel Craig--sparks a series of killings and climax in vengeance worthy of Greek tragedy. Except that it's not. ROAD TO PERDITION is great for what it is...a kind of super-retro episode of THE UNTOUCHABLES lacking only Eliot Ness and Walter Winchell reportage. The film is good..the acting solid; the art direction and production values, excellent. But if you feel you're not watching an EPIC, you're right...
Rating:
Summary: This film is going all the way to the oscars.
Review: Those of you who think this film is hollow don't appreciate spectacular film making. This film is astonishing. I'll even go so far as to say it is equal and maybe even better then "The Untouchables!" Both films have solid acting ,great directing, and incredible costume design but they are basically exactly opposite in story. This film focuses on the dark side of Pro- Habition era Chicago instead of the light.
One incredible asset to the film is the moving soundtrack which was done by Thomas Newman. Another plus to this film is the amazing acting which goes for every character. Both Hanks , and Paul Newman may be nominated for Oscars this year and Mendes' directing is supberb. The cinematography is excellant and the Screenplay is spectacular.
THe story deals with a hitman named Michael Sullivan who is also a family man. When his son witnesses him and a co-worker making a hit Sullivan's family is placed in great danger. His wife and younger son are killed so he takes his son Michael Jr. on a thought provoking roadtrip to Perdition, a town from which the film gets it's name. This is also a metaphor for hell because all the charaters seem to be hell bound and Michael Sr. wants to keep his son from following his path. During the entire trip the Sullivans are pursued by a ruthless hitman named Maguire who loves killing people and even goes so far as to photograph his victims. This chilling character is brilliantly played by Jude Law.
I just can't say enough about this film! If ther is justice in this world this fil should be nominated for at least 8 Academy Awards. I urge all who love good film making to behold this masterpiece before it is to late!
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