Road to Perdition

Plot synopsis:
In 1931, during the Great Depression, Michael Sullivan, Sr. is an enforcer for Irish mob boss John Rooney in Rock Island, Illinois. Rooney raised the orphan Sullivan and loves him more than his own biological son, Connor. Rooney sends Connor and Sullivan to meet with disgruntled associate Finn McGovern, but Connor shoots McGovern, resulting in Sullivan gunning down McGovern's men. Sullivan's twelve-year-old son Michael, Jr. had hidden in his father's car and witnesses the event. Despite Sullivan swearing his son to secrecy and Rooney pressuring Connor to apologize for the reckless action, Connor murders Sullivan's wife Annie and younger son Peter. At the same time, he sends Sullivan to an ambush at a speakeasy. Sullivan realizes it's a set-up, kills two men at the bar, and escapes. He goes to Chicago with his son to seek Al Capone, for work and to discover the location of Connor, who has gone into hiding.
Capone's underboss Frank Nitti rejects Sullivan's proposals, before informing Rooney of the meeting. Rooney reluctantly allows Nitti to dispatch assassin Harlen Maguire, who is also a crime scene photographer, to kill Sullivan. Maguire tracks him and his son to a roadside diner, but fails to kill Sullivan; realizing Maguire's intentions, Sullivan escapes through the bathroom and punctures Maguire's car tire before fleeing.
In reaction to the ordered hit, Sullivan begins robbing banks that hold Capone’s money, hoping to trade it for Connor. Sullivan is impeded when the mob withdraws its money, so he visits Rooney's accountant Alexander Rance at his hotel. The encounter is a set-up, with Rance stalling Sullivan until Maguire enters with a shotgun. In the ensuing crossfire, Rance is killed, Maguire is injured by flying glass shards, and Sullivan escapes with the ledgers; as Sullivan flees, Maguire shoots him in his left arm.
When his father collapses from his wound, Michael Jr. drives his father to a farm, where a childless elderly couple help him recover. Sullivan bonds with his son and discovers from the ledgers that Connor has been embezzling from his father for years, using the names of dead men. As the Sullivans depart, they give the couple much of the stolen money. Sullivan confronts Rooney with the information while they attend Mass. Rooney already knew about the embezzlement and that Connor was likely to die, if not by Sullivan's hand then by the Chicago Outfit once Rooney dies. He still refuses to give up his son. He encourages Sullivan to leave with his son.
Later one night, cloaked by darkness and rain, Sullivan dispatches Rooney's entire entourage with his Thompson submachine gun and walks directly up to Rooney. As Rooney mutters that he is glad his killer is Sullivan, a reluctant Sullivan pulls the trigger. Seeing no further reason to protect Connor, Nitti reveals his location, after making Sullivan promise to end the feud. Sullivan goes to the hotel where Connor is hiding and kills him.
Sullivan drives his son to stay at his Aunt Sara's beach house in Perdition, a town on the shore of Lake Michigan. However, he is ambushed and shot by a disfigured Maguire. As Maguire prepares to photograph the dying Sullivan, Michael, Jr. appears and points a gun at Maguire but cannot muster the will to fire. Sullivan pulls out his gun and kills Maguire, before dying in his son's arms. Mourning his father's death, Michael, Jr. returns to live with the elderly farm couple. Growing up, Michael, Jr. reflects that his father's only fear was that his son would become like him. Michael states he has never held a gun since the fatal encounter between Maguire and his father. When asked if Sullivan was a good or bad man, he replies "he was my father."

Tags: boring, neo noir, depressing, murder, violence, revenge

Review:
He did himself proud as this is one of the best-looking crime films you'll ever see.Of course, the acting ain't bad when you have Tom Hanks and Paul Newman playing the leads!
I loved so much about this movie...the time taken to develop the characters, the attention to detail, the superb performances, the stunning lighting and cinematography, the wonderful soundtrack...It has a combined intensity and lightness of touch that won't work for anyone who wants the typical fast-paced action flick.
(Though I did enjoy the book too.) I've bought the DVD, which is great because it has some wonderful deleted scenes and insightful commentary.(I also took my little cousin, who's a little younger than the boy in the movie, to see it after I saw it for the first time, because he has issues at home and I wanted to use this as a way of starting a discussion on father-son issues with him.
Road to Perdition, a movie undeservedly overlooked at that year Oscars is the second work of Sam Mendes (and in my opinion his best work), a director who three years before won Oscar for his widely acclaimed but controversial American Beauty.
This is a terrific movie, and at the same time ultimately poignant and sad.It's a story of a relatively wealthy and happy family from outward appearance during difficult times of Depression when the, Michael Sullivan, a father of two children, played by great Tom Hanks (I'm not his admirer but ought to say that) is a hit-man for local mafia boss, played by Paul Newman.
I f you thought Sam Mendes' first film, the much heralded American BEAUTY was a movie with style to spare, wait until you see his highly anticipated second effort, the unrelentingly grim 30's gangster melodrama ROAD TO PERDITION.
If the mechanics of movie making are what make a picture great, then yes, ROAD TO PERDITION is a distant cousin to THE GODFATHER in terms of what it achieves in cinematography, editing, music scoring and sound.
As with American BEAUTY, there is a cold, distancing feel to this movie, despite some very tense scenes involving paternal love, loyalty and betrayal.This story of a hit man (Tom Hanks) and his relationship to a surrogate father - figure who is also his boss, an elderly Irish mob leader (Paul Newman) , seems to have been culled from innumerable gangster movies of years past.
The father /son motif that hangs over this picture is so heavy handed in its treatment that there is not much room for spontaneity ; the entire enterprise has been very carefully wrought , and nearly all the dialog is delivered with an air of great portent : this is obviously a gangster film , hence the requisite amount of violence and bloodshed , but the film is nearly devoid of any humor to speak of ; only in scenes involving a young boy driving a getaway car in a cunningly edited montage is there any sense of lightheartedness to leaven the pervasive sense of doom.That being said , I have nothing but the highest praise for the stunning look of this film ; indeed , it is not an overstatement to say that this is one of the most beautifully photographed and designed movies I have ever seen.
Mr. Mendes continues to astonish with his vivid use of color, and he and Mr. Hall again make very dramatic use of red blood splattered against pale colored walls , all the more effective and disconcerting due to the preponderance of blacks, blues and grays that dominate the movie's color scheme.If I have failed to duly note the acting , it is not because the actors do not purport themselves ably ; everyone in the film is top notch, with special mention going to the two malevolent bad guys : Daniel Craig is the classic "man you love to hate", the spoiled, impulsive son of Newman's gangster father ; and an almost unrecognizable Jude Law as an especially slimy miscreant who goes on pursuit of Hanks and his son and figures very importantly in the film's riveting second half.
It is definitely worth watching - for the atmosphere, tension, father-son- relationship, great dramatic scenes, brilliant actors and most importantly: Every single character has a depth that is unique in a film this short (two hours) - you really get each and every character.
Combined with a poignant story and stunning cinematography Road to Perdition is one of the best movies I've seen in ages.The story of a relatively well-off family living during the dark times of depression.
13-year-old Michael Sullivan Jr. has no idea that the family's money comes from his father job as a hit-man for the local mafia and when he begins looking for the truth his life changes forever as he accidentally becomes a witness to a murder.An amazing feat of storytelling and cinematography (not to mention acting), Road to Perdition really is a masterpiece..
Despite having a seen it all before feel this shouldn't be taken as a heavy criticism of Sam Mendes film which I repeat is haunting and beautiful and the only flaws that work against it is a very slow opening twenty minutes and I was slightly confused as the events that caused Michael Sullivan to be betrayed .
But if you stop to consider how much of a sentimental mess Spielberg might have made with the story that revolves around a father and his twelve year old son running for their lives you can't help thinking what a superb director Mendes is ROAD TO PERDITION is a film where the entire cast give flawless performances .
While never upstaging Newman who gives the best performance in the movie the two Brit supporting actors Craig and Law are also very memorable as American gangsters and while Law will still have a long career as a leading actor one wonders how Daniel Craig might have progressed as a character actor if he hadn't decided to become James Bond , a role which heralds the end of an actors career.
It isn't until that indie work has proved itself to be more than meets the eye will I choose it over a Hollywood epic.Starring: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Liam Aiken, and Tyler Hoechlin.
I loved the visuals--very fitting for a story connected to a graphic novel.I thought Tom Hanks was really great in this, he came across very well as someone who has been hardened by his work (which he didn't fully choose for himself) but still wants to have a normal life for his family.
In Road to Perdition, his character Michael Sullivanis a little bit different.In Sam Mendes' film Road to Perdition based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, he shows the story of a man and his son on the road during the Great Depression in Chicago.
This is a gangster movie with a difference as although it does deal with the shadier elements of gang life it really is a tale of one man's relationship with his son.Once you get past the fact that Tom Hanks is an assassin ( and this takes some doing) this is a wonderful film.
Tom Hanks has never been better and there is great support from Paul Newman, Jude Law ( his best performance) and Daniel Craig.
Following his acclaimed first film "American Beauty", Sam Mendes obviously decided that the it was time to make his own "Godfather", because his second film, "Road to Perdition" is a gangster drama in this tradition.
In some ways the audience can sympathise with Michael, a man who has suffered unjustly through the deaths of two innocent family members, and this sense of identification is strengthened by the casting of Tom Hanks, an actor normally seen as sympathetic characters.
And kudos to Jude Law also for going so very much against type and embodying such a repellent character.The best interactions are between Michael Sullivan's Sr. and Jr, but much credit has to be given to the contrast between their relationship and John and Connor Rooney's (acted to perfection by Paul Newman and Daniel Craig).I found that one of the film's greatest strengths was it's decision to depict so much of the violence barely in frame or viewed through an opening.
It's very difficult to get involved in any of the relationships, despite some excellent individual performances: Tom Hanks is fine as the honourable hit-man, Paul Newman typically on the button as his boss, grappling with a quandary of loyalty over business and self-preservation, Jude Law suitably menacing as a very seedy mercenary.But something on the human side doesn't click.
All the directors I mentioned, lost their touch, with all my respects, letting crime films reduced to a bunch of entertaining 'kiss-kiss bang-bang' flicks with no other purpose than entertaining younger masses before sinking into oblivion, as if all the emotionality and meaningfulness introduced by "The Godfather" had vanished in the wind of action mania forever  until Sam Mendes saved the genre through one of the greatest crime films of the last decade, and probably, one of the greatest ever made, a movie named "Road to Perdition"."Road to Perdition" is a darkly stylish noir film telling an engaging revenge story, driven by a beautiful father-and-son relationship between Tom Hanks and Tyler Hoechlin, as Michael Sullivan, Sr. and Jr. This is why the parallelism with 'The Godfather" is more than a simple compliment, it's a cinematic accuracy as if the beauty of Coppola's masterpiece traveled thirty years forth to inhabit Sam Mendes' film, one of the few that managed to bring an extra sentimental dimension to a genre where the protagonists are generally despised.
And one of the achievement of this film is to reconcile between both the gangster fans and the haters.The movie respects the intelligence of the viewer, and talks to his heart through the soul of this story, the father-and-son relationship, which in fact, is not just a reminiscence of "The Godfather", but also such epics as "The Godfather Part II" or "Once Upon a Time in America" as if the crime genre was the likeliest setting to explore the fascinating flaws and inspiring strengths of the human spirit.
This is why "Road to Perdition" is a movie the genre needed, and I used the word "masterpiece" knowingly and deservedly, and the achievement is not just in the story, but also in its absolutely dazzling cinematography.Conrad Hall's cinematography is so extraordinary it 'sublimated' the film, and embodied the cold and dark feeling of the heavy presence of an imminent death.
Like in "The Godfather", Family is a redundant theme, which makes the characters even more sympathetic, whether it's Tom Hanks or Paul Newman in his last heart-breaking performance as John Rooney, they're totally devoted to the their sons.
It's an extraordinary inspiring film served by unforgettable performance, from Tom Hanks and Paul Newman to Daniel Craig as Rooney's psychopathic son, and Jude Law, the professional killer.
As he proved before with his great film, American Beauty, he outdoes himself with this story set in the Chicago of the 30s at the height of the Prohibition Era.The story of the relationship between Mike Sullivan and his son, Michael is translated by Mr. Mendes for the screen with a lot of panache, which seems to be his style, and we're never bored by what we are being shown on screen.
It gives a "look" of the somber days, depicted on this film, by adding another layer of depth in the overall effect the director obviously wanted to create, one in which the dark tones of the sets used, give us a feeling of what it was like being there as silent witnesses to the story.Tom Hanks is very effective as Mike Sullivan, but the revelation here is how a great Paul Newman is with the proper direction and vehicle.
And despite my usual allergy to any film with Tom Hanks' name on it (still can't watch "Big" without wanting a cat to kick), I'm glad I gave this a try because this is one of those movies that you'll kick yourself for if you miss it.Normally squeaky-clean Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a devoted family man and father of two sons growing up during Prohibition in the early 1930's.
Soon, father and son are pursued to Chicago where a fellow hit-man (a menacing Jude Law) is waiting for them.On the face of it, it reads like a pretty standard gangster film but as I've said, this isn't really about gangsters at all.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine says the movie "...reveals something elemental about fathers and sons and the bloodlust that seems hard-wired into the American character...the passion and precision of 'Road to Perdition' is staggering".One can't help but feel they all sound a little like corrupted Wall Street investment analysts praising WorldCom or Enron stocks right before their catastrophic collapse..
Tom Hanks gets another challenge this time (after a retard, an AIDS patient, an island survivor and a conflicted World War 2 soldier), in getting a role of the likes of Michael Sullivan Sr, a expertly trained hit-man for boss John Rooney (Paul Newman in one of the years best supporting roles), since his is a life that is cold and ruthless and sometimes compassionate given the circumstances, and Hanks pulls it off in his compelling fashion and it can be seen even in the more subtle scenes, like with his son Michael Jr. They go on the run when Rooney's son Conner shoots Hanks' other son and wife, and the story unfolds from there, which includes a juicy, sinister persona sent on Hanks' tale named Maguire (Jude Law).With photography by Conrad L.
To see such talent (Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, Stanley Tucci and Jude Law) wasted on this pathetically scripted and edited movie, makes one very sad.
A enforcer for a gangster in the liquor business finds the tables turned on him and goes on the run with his son in "Road to Perdition," a 2002 film directed by Sam Mendes.Tom Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a quiet, remote father of two who works for a crooked liquor dealer, John Rooney (Paul Newman) who took him in and treats him as his son.
On looking at the note Connor asked him to deliver, it says, "Kill Sullivan and all debts are paid." Several hours later, Michael's life is devastated, and he and his older son are on the run, Michael determined to destroy Connor.I saw this film without being aware of anyone liking or disliking it or of it being overlooked by the Oscars - I only had heard of it and actually rented it because I am a huge fan of Paul Newman's.
Tom Hanks, taking a chance and playing a rougher character for once in his goody two shoes career, is Michael Sullivan, enforcer for small town Irish mob boss John Rooney, played with force and feeling by Paul Newman in his final cinematic outing.
Tom Hanks is perfect at Mike Sullivan, enforcer for Paul Newman, playing an Irish American crime boss in an Illinois town during the Great Depression.
Excellent work by all the actors Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, the kid and specially by Tom Hanks.
The most serene of all mob films, Road to Perdition is a beautifully crafted, finely composed & calmly narrated tale that not only succeeds as an effective crime thriller but also paints a touching portrait of father-son relationship over the course of its runtime and is equally notable for marking the final on-screen appearance of the legendary actor, Paul Newman.Set in the early 1930s during the Great Depression, the story of Road to Perdition concerns Michael Sullivan Sr.; an enforcer for the Irish mobster John Rooney who share a father-son like relationship.
Cinematography patiently captures the unfolding events & makes excellent use of cold colour temperatures, Editing steadily paces the narrative while Thomas Newman's score is truly mesmerising.Coming to the performances, Road to Perdition features a star-studded cast in Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig & Tyler Hoechlin.
Delivering an assured performance like he has all his career, Hanks adds another impressive work to his résumé, Law does fine with what he's provided, Hoechlin's chemistry with Hanks simply works, Craig is good while Newman steals every scene he's in & bows out on a high note.On an overall scale, Road to Perdition is a masterwork of its genre that nicely demonstrates the consequences of following the path of violence, covers the father-son dynamics with soothing grace, and benefits greatly from its polished direction, sophisticated screenplay, gorgeous photography, controlled pace, heartwarming score & sensational performances.
Finding oneself in the company of Paul Newman, Tom Hanks and Jude Law certainly gives one room for superior performances, but there is no punch to the story and the actors all seem somewhat misused (not to be mistaken with miscast) by the slow pace of the film and the lack of a definitive or strong arc in story.Mr. Hall, as per usual, shoots the film with beauty and style, yet it is frustrating to watch the camera not come in close at moments that could have been so much more if we were allowed closer to the faces in frame.
I thought it was just as good as the godfather.I am not a Tom Hanks fan but this movie has made me think differently about his acting capability's.I think that Jude Law was great too.
It should be noted at the outset that none of these are currently fashionable themes.The premise is that the fathers in the move, hitman Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) and his crime boss John Rooney (Paul Newman), love their sons and will do anything to protect them.
Tom Hanks, Jude Law, and particularly Paul Newman are excellent as always in this tale of fathers and sons, as an epic story unwinds.