Rating: 
Summary: To Get Paid to Do Something you Love, That's What It's About
Review: Those are Jude Law's words in The Road to Perdition. These words will go over everyone in the audience's head. Until further thought, one doesn't realizes what he means. Law's character is a hitman. To get paid to kill people, is what it's all about. His character loves being a hitman. How disturbing is that? The trailer does no justice to what the film will be. The graphic novel is one of the most gruesome and violent I've ever read. Eyes get stabbed with knives, rounds of bullets will be unleashed into the flesh and heads of characters we like. This is not a father's day film, nor is it a family picture. This will be a disturbing portrait of the depression era, in the middle of the mob world full of betrayal. Mendes and Co. want the film to appeal to the middle aged man. Who else is better at appealing to the middle aged man than Mr. Hanks? I am here to warn you that the trailers do no justice to the film. This isn't going to be what you think it will. God bless Mendes for that. Finally a film that will be true to its source material.
Rating:
Summary: Tom hanks knows how to pick a good movie
Review: The road to perdition is awsome I went to a private screening of this movie it is his best acting scince the green mile it also is a very touching film about a hitman and his son I can't wait till it gets to theatres so I can see it with my dad perfect father son movie should have come out on father's day.
Rating: 
Summary: Mobster's Paradise
Review: "Road to Perdition" is Greek-type tragedy set in Depression-Era America with mobsters as his heroes, or anti-heroes. Tom Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a mob enforcer who works for John Rooney, played wonderfully by Paul Newman. Tyler Hoechlin is Hank's son, Michael Jr, who on the one hand is the omnipresent narrator, but also represents the tragic flaw of his father. Men who name their sons after themselves presumably hope they will turn out like them. However Michael Sr. does not want his son involved in his evil ways, but Michael Jr. inevitably gets caught up when he witnesses one of his father's murders. This sets in motion a chain of events which ultimately lead to father and son fleeing on the road to perdition, or road to hell. What comes about is the film's central theme, and question: Is it possible for fathers to spare their sons from the costs of their sins? The film has some great performances, particularly from Newman, and Jude Law who plays a dispicable hitman/crime scene photographer. The dull colored costumes fit perfectly with the bleak time period, the production design authentically recreates 1930s Chicago, and the Thomas Newman score is somber and haunting. Yet what stands out is the amazing cinematography from the 'Master of Darkness,' Conrad L. Hall. Never has such a bleak picture looked so vibrant. Hall creates a limbo of shadows, half seen faces, and rain-soaked frames. Each shot presents a visceral chill that reverberates throughout the film. Brilliant work! And in his sophomore effort following the acclaimed, "American Beauty," Sam Mendes proves that he is a master craftsman. "Road to Perdition" does have many laurels and is a good picture overall. However, my problem with it is that it plays too much like a Greek tragedy. The characters' fates have already been decided, and the characters seem like they are in on it. Their parts in the story are not so much revealed, as they are performed. The impact of the ending is therefore somewhat lessened since we already knew that this was the 'road to hell.' And although narrated by its young star, the film is somewhat distant and muted in its emotions. The film presents the events without getting the viewer involved. I am not saying that all films should be subjective, but "Road to Perdition" felt like it wanted to but rarely did. The DVD does not offer much, but the HBO documentary is interesting and commentary is very insightful. All in all, "Road to Perdition" is definitely worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated Bore...
Review: Sometimes the hype a director receives after a big film, especially his debut, carries their second film with critics. This was true of The Sixth Sense and M. Knight what's his name's forgetable, dull, self-important second film, "Unbreakable" and it applies here. Man, gotta tell ya - throw in a "beloved" actor (Hanks), an aging hollywood icon (Newman), a "hot director" coming off a success (American Beauty), and millions of dollars worth of hype and a film will be given a degree of latitude not afforded to films that don't have these elements. The film will likely become an "acclaimed" critical success no matter how badly it sucks. And there seems almost an obligation to like or praise a stinker like this, and it's given a reverence it far from deserves. It's truly a case of "the halo effect". Critics and movie-goers seem to fall for it every time. And that's the case here. I applaude the minority of critics who said, "Ya know what? I don't care if it has Paul Neuman, (a laughable) Tom Hanks, the director's track record, or if it's artsy/moody/"noir", who the cinematographer is, or its zillion dollar ad campaign heaping on the self-congratulation. This film STINKS!" Boring, vapid, uninvolving, over-long, pretentious, unmoving, and slow as cat sh**t art-gangster flick. This is the most overrated film in recent memory. Even Conrad "two stops too dark" Hall's work in this is overrated. (Sorry, you can't do "noir" in color. It always ends up looking too dreary, dark, and underexposed. The origins of "Noir" films were of low budget filmmakers who shot on location because they didn't have access to sets, or the required lighting equipment to shoot high key, high depth of field. The so called "noir" style was >almost< a happy accident, if not a brilliant work around to these constraints. Film Noir is a product of a particular era in filmmaking. Like "Art Deco" we might love the style but attempts to revive it always look unauthentic, as such revolutions in style are a product of, and exclusive to, there era. You can't "remake" a vintage wine no matter how hard you try. Same applies here.) Even it terrible score is uninspired, though I suppose some would call it "minimalist". And enough of Tom Hanks already! Why he's considered a "great actor" I'll never understand. Popular? yes. Great? That's another matter. He's the acting equivalent of Britney Spears or something... popular - sure. But "great"? His popularity (read box office draw) allows him to pick and choose the projects he wants to work on. That's it, and that's the case here. This is the most dull uninspired gangster film ever made. Instead of renting this, rent Goodfellas again, or check out Mean Streets if you've never seen it. I wish this director had.
Rating:
Summary: Stay Away From Sam Mendes Films if You Want Class
Review: The only thing that gives this film some merit is its stellar cast who bring a mediocre script up to their level. The legendary Paul Newman comes off best but Tom Hanks, arguably the finest actor in movies today comes close. Jude law steals practically every scene he is in...a true talent. But the film is depressing and lacks character development. It is completely driven by the plot which makes one have absolutely no empathy for any of the characters or the situation they are in. It is typical Sam Mendes stuff, complete with blood, gore and no remorse for anything...just like the trashy "American Beauty" which should be retitled "American Ugly". Tom Hanks is worth watching in almost anything though and he makes the film worth one star for me. But I'm donating this one to the video store as I can't bear to watch unedifying trash like this fill up my screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking Film...Impressive DVD
Review: This review refers to the DVD Widescreen edition(20th Cent Fox/Dreamworks) of "The Road To Perdition"...
There are so many informative and perceptive reviews here pertaining to this film and the incredible cast, and I don't want to repeat what's already been said, so basically I am going to review the DVD package itself for those who may be interested. I can hardly restrain myslef though, from saying that I loved this dark and thought provoking character study of an icy killer, who we watch slowly melting into a warm human being and caring father as the film progresses. It is one of those rare films I wanted to watch again immediatley.
This DVD package, is what all DVD packages should be. It has everything possible available to make it a joy to view by all.
The picture in anamorphic widescreen is always crystal clear. Considering that much of the story takes place on dark and stormy nights this is a big plus. The colors of the film, which are more muted then most films these days, really make you feel like you are back in the depression era, and are well defined on this DVD. The sound is excellent in the DD5.1. There is also an option for 2.0, or French 5.1. Every raindrop, every footstep, every rat-a-tat-tat of the tommy guns, and every word of dialouge clear and distinct. There are subtitles in English, French and Spanish, and has descriptions spoken for visually impaired as well. It may be viewed with or without commentary by directed Sam Mendes, and has the option of the commentary in Spanish and French as well(written words).
Special features include an informative and entertaining 25 minute look at the "Making Of" documentary, with thoughts from the cast, the director, and we are fortunate enough to hear the thoughts of cinematographer Conrad Hall, who's filming was as dramatic as the story. There are several deleted scenes, which may also be viewed with commentary, and may fill in some questions about the storyline for you. Also included are cast and filmmaker bios, production notes and a photo gallery. There was also an option for the CD soundtrack, which I got all jazzed about,(I thought I could isolate Thomas Newman's magnificent score), but this turned out to be just an advertisement for the CD. The price is more then reasonable compared to what you get(or don't get) on other DVDs.
The exquisite cast, including Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law, will have you mesmerized. The film will leave you thinking. The DVD, impressive.
Enjoy....Laurie
Rating:
Summary: Overrated, but not bad.
Review: Road to Perdition (Sam Mendes, 2002)
After Sam Mendes won Best Director for American Beauty, he basically had his pick of stars for film #2. He lined up the hooks, set the bait, and they bit in spades. That makes Road to Perdition somewhat hard to absorb oneself in; the number of big names to be found in it keeps the viewer at a professional distance, but the movie, after a quite rocky beginning, does manage to at least pull the viewer in enough to want to watch the rest of it.
While Tom Hanks and Paul Newman got the big billing on the marquees, the real star of the film is relative newcomer Tyler Hoechlin, who has been since making a name for himself on TV series Seventh Heaven. Hoechlin plays Michael Sullivan, Jr., the son of Michael Sullivan (Hanks), a gangster in the employ of New York (one assumes, from some comments made by certain characters, that the movie opens somewhere in a suburb of New York City) crime boss John Rooney (Newman). At a wake for their compatriot Danny McGovern, his brother Finn (Ciaran Hinds, just as good here as he was in Calendar Girls) has a bit too much to drink and is stopped just short of accusing Rooney of dealing crooked with his outfit. Sullivan and Rooney's son, the sadistic dilettante Connor (Daniel Craig, recently of Enduring Love and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), are dispatched to talk to Finn about his accusations. Michael Jr., curious about his father's job, hides in the car, discovering that his father is, in fact, a hit man. Such knowledge is a dangerous thing, and the rest of the plot hinges on what happens when Rooney finds out.
He wake, which covers roughly the first ten minutes of the film, is a brilliant piece of filmmaking. Mendes shows us in no uncertain terms that American Beauty was not a fluke, handling the scene like a seasoned pro. Unfortunately, the next scenes (everything else in the synopsis above) disintegrate into a confusing jumble that obviously exists for the sole purpose of getting us to the meat of the movie. To make it worse, some of the bit parts found in this murky soup, especially that of In and Out's Kevin Chamberlin, are the best to be found in the film.
The upshot is that before we get to the unfolding of the movie's actual plot, we're close to halfway through the film. More good performances crop up here, all of which consist of very little screen time for some very big names, including Jude Law and Stanley Tucci. It's after the movie gets to this point that it becomes a movie, as opposed to a series of set pieces. If you make it that far, don't give in to the temptation to turn it off and throw the DVD across the room, because the good stuff's on its way.
But since his name tops the marquee, the big question is: how does Tom Hanks play a bad guy? After all, one cannot but call his career inconsistent over the years. For every Big or Saving Private Ryan, there's been a That Thing You Do! Or He Knows You're Alone. Most of the time, Hanks is far more effective in the role than one would expect; much of this is accomplished by Hanks not having terribly much screen time in the movie, all told. You know he's a bad guy, and he does various bad things, and Mendes seems to have realized that the best way to get audiences to buy Tom Hanks as a bad guy is to either keep him mostly offscreen when he's doing bad things, or keep the bad things offscreen while focusing on him. (The main exception to this rule comes at the very end of the film, and in no small part because Hanks has been offscreen when killing people most of the time, it is quite effective.)
The downside to this is that Hanks' character really ISN'T a bad guy. He's an ambivalent guy who, as mentioned, just happens to do bad things. Without having read Max Allan Collins' novel, I can't say whether the character was transferred to the film wholesale or whether he was changed, in this way, for the movie. Which doesn't matter in the end, but it does lend a grave weakness to those scenes where Hanks is doing bad things and the camera is focusing on him instead of said bad things. (There is one scene in particular, about three-quarters of the way through the film, where his facial expression is so unintentionally hysterical the whole film comes close to unraveling.)
The film has good points and bad points both, but finally, the good points win out by a slim margin. Road to Perdition is worth seeing, especially when one considers that it is part of the rapidly-dwindling-in-ratio body of film in which Tom Hanks shows that, yes, he really can act. Too bad he's upstaged by a fourteen-year-old in most every scene where they appear together. ***
Rating: 
Summary: "There is only one guarantee. None of us will see heaven."
Review: Based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, "Road to Perdition" is a unique movie in many regards. On the surface it is a gangster film, but the heart of the story has much more to do with the exploration of father/son relationships. Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) is a hit man for John Rooney (Paul Newman), the mob leader who takes on the role of a surrogate father, and to whom he is indebted. On the other hand, Sullivan is a family man, with a beloved wife and two young sons. But everything changes when the eldest son, also named Michael (Tyler Hoechlin), becomes a witness to a killing in which both his father and Rooney's son Connor (Daniel Craig) take part.
Connor, jealous of the favoritism his father shows Sullivan, jumps on the opportunity to get rid of Sullivan and his family, under the guise of eliminating a witness. When Sullivan's wife and younger son are brutally murdered, Sullivan gathers up his remaining son and heads for the town of Perdition, where he intends to deposit Michael with his aunt for safekeeping while he himself hunts down Connor Rooney to exact revenge. But their trail is dogged by the sinister Harlen Maguire (Jude Law), a photographer who "shoots the dead" and has been hired to kill Sullivan and young Michael. Along the way, as father and son must work together to survive, we see the initially strained relationship between Sullivan and Michael develop into something deeper and more real. In contrast, we also see the painful inner conflict John Rooney feels at having to choose between his two sons, the real and the adopted.
Despite being a gangster movie, it is not an action film and the focus is undeniably on the internal, emotional struggles the characters face rather than on the external events. Genre is only a vehicle here. The plot is cohesive, thought-provoking, and holds one's attention throughout. My only disappointment, though it is a slight one, is in finding myself vaguely unsatisfied with the way the story is wrapped up. The climax of the story is powerful, and gives the film a sense of resolution, but the brief denoument somehow didn't quite seem to fit. Nevertheless, I do think this is one of the better films of 2002.
Every single actor turned in an excellent performance, making this film surprisingly powerful and compelling. The character of Michael Sullivan is an unusual one for Tom Hanks, whom we're used to seeing as the good guy. Here he draws out a darker element, playing the role of a professional killer. Yet at the same time he manages to convey a compassionate, human side to the man, which we see manifested in the love he feels for his son. Paul Newman also does an outstanding job, as is to be expected. Jude Law's character will positively make your skin crawl. And newly discovered child actor Tyler Hoechlin is impressive as young Michael, giving a very genuine performance, rare for most actors his age.
"Road to Perdition" is also a great artistic success. The cinematography is perfect. The use of light and darkness gives a great effect. The colors are muted, creating a brooding atmosphere, and also giving the film an authentic "feel" of the Depression era in which the story takes place. The sets are simple and uncluttered, yet retain a rich, textured feel. Some scenes were also shot on location in older parts of Chicago. The soundtrack (by Thomas Newman) adds the final finishing touch. All originally composed for this film, the music is truly beautiful. Heavily piano-driven, it conveys an additional depth of emotion that makes the movie feel complete.
The DVD Special Features include commentary from director Sam Mendes, several interesting deleted scenes which can be watched either with or without commentary, an HBO "Making of Road to Perdition" documentary featuring actor and filmmaker interviews that provide some interesting insights, an advertisement for the soundtrack, cast and filmmaker bios, production notes, and a photo gallery. I'd certainly recommend this film to others, as either a rental or a purchase. It's worth more than one viewing (though it's a "heavy" movie and not the sort you'd want to watch every day), and I liked it enough to add it to my own DVD collection.
Rating:
Summary: This movie was a dissapointment.
Review: This movie lacked character development. There was not a single character in the movie who I cared about. Yes, it was a heartless gangster movie, but at the same time the producer made no effort to develop empathy in any of the characters. Thus, when the sequences start showing different individuals being murdered, there was no pain, no sorrow. I was thinking, when is thos movie going to be over. My feeling is that this was an excellent story -- theoretically -- but when it came down to creating the movie, it looked differently in reality than it was when it was first thought up. That's unfortunate, of course, because there was a great deal of potential.
Rating:
Summary: A great sophomore effort by Mendes!!
Review: Tom Hanks once again gives a great performance as Michael Sullivan. Paul Newman gives a well deserved Oscar nominated performance. Jude Law is downright creepy. But, I really enjoyed the music to this film. Thomas Newman's soundtrack really flowed and worked it's way in every scene. It's haunting and moving. Probably the best use of music in a movie in the last few years. Sam Mendes' attention to detail takes away a star, but it's still a great sophomore effort by the Academy Award winner.
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