After screening Road to Perdition, it took me a long time to form an opinion about it. My initial reaction was that the movie was a rather lackluster telling of a fairly rehashed story. Then I flip-flopped, deeming director Sam Mendes’ second feature as a solid and well-made film. After more thought though, I returned to my original conviction. I found my waffling quite confusing. I couldn’t ever remember seeing a film that had me on the fence for as long as Road to Perdition did. But, in a sense, this wasn’t my problem so much as it is a perfect example of why Road to Perdition failed: roughly 30% of this film is on par with just about any Oscar winning picture in history; the other 70%, however, is a vapid rehashing of tired plot strains and incredibly and brutally delivered metaphor (not only is Tom Hanks’ character on the road to perdition, but he is also on a road driving to a town called Perdition).

Hanks puts his warm, cuddly charm to Michael Sullivan, the most feared henchman in John Rooney’s (Paul Newman) Chicago Irish mob. When Rooney’s son, Connor (Daniel Craig) kills Sullivan’s wife and one of his two boys, Sullivan turns on Rooney and his family in an effort to even the score.

It’s an odd pairing, Hanks and that of a cold-blooded killer, but it works well. Mendes’ decision to include cascades of rain and water in every scene featuring death does not however work with the same ease.

The one constant in Road to Perdition though is Conrad Hall’s sublime cinematography. This is a dark movie and the ham-fisted Mendes decides to give the project that very look. Hall makes the film look much better than the quality of the material deserves. With characters often half encased in shadows (because they are flirting with the dark side of life) and dealing with rain pouring onto them, the collection of individual images in this project are far better than the whole.

Road to Perdition was a well-constructed project with a talented cast, director and cinematographer. Sadly, it lacked heart and a driving passion and that comes through in the film much too loudly and way too clearly.

Jackson Casey

yes, it's true:

YES, IT’S TRUE: According to Princeton University’s Wordnet, Perdition is "where sinners suffer eternal punishment."