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Movies / On DVD / Road to Perdition
Road to Perdition

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Road to Perdition (2002)

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Reviews Counted:203

Fresh:167

Rotten:36

Average Rating:7.5/10

Consensus: Somber, stately, and beautifully mounted, Mendes' Road to Perdition is a well-crafted mob movie that explores the ties between fathers and sons.

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Directed by Sam Mendes and based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, the Depression-era crime epic ROAD TO PERDITION stars Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, a quiet hit... Directed by Sam Mendes and based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, the Depression-era crime epic ROAD TO PERDITION stars Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, a quiet hit man who is duty bound to Mafia boss John Rooney (Paul Newman). The mobster's close bond with Sullivan, however, leads Rooney's jealous blood son, Connor (Daniel Craig), to orchestrate a tragic series of events that results in Sullivan on the run with his 12-year-old son, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin). Soon an unscrupulous crime photographer/assassin named Maguire (Jude Law) is sent after Sullivan and his son, and Sullivan must decide on a course of action as young Michael comes to terms with his father's violent way of life. Meticulously directed by Mendes and brilliantly photographed by Conrad Hall, each scene of ROAD TO PERDITION has the composition of an expertly crafted painting. Making effective use of rain, snow, and shadows, the filmmakers create a cinematic world that's as dark, cold, and unforgiving as many of its inhabitants. But the film also allows for glimpses of emotional warmth, particularly in Sullivan's relationships with his son and Rooney, his surrogate father. In these roles, the respective actors create complex characters that resonate even in their restraint. Hanks is outstanding as a man of action with little time for words, while Hoechlin creates an unsentimental portrait of a confused boy; Newman once again proves why he's a screen legend and, in a strikingly unflattering role, Law makes the most out of his screen time as a creepy, parasitic hit man. Even in its harshest moments, however, Mendes never fails to remind the audience that ROAD TO PERDITION is a film about fathers and sons; and this is what elevates it from an atmospheric gangster movie to a truly astonishing work of art. [More]

Starring: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Tyler Hoechlin

Starring: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Tyler Hoechlin, Daniel Craig, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Liam Aiken, Dylan Baker

Director: Sam Mendes

Director: Sam Mendes
Screenwriter: David Self
Composer: Thomas Newman
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Road to Perdition

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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It's Newman who really stands out. Despite his advanced years -- he's 77 -- the man still has remarkable presence.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/01/08
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ploughing a furrowed brow, Hanks is fatally miscast -- except that the story turns so sentimental and bathetic, he's actually in his element.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is supremely crafted, grown-up moviemaking that never escapes its pulp origins.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/02/03
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Beautifully shot, with a terrific performance by Newman, but Hanks is miscast and the film is ultimately too slow and uninvolving -- not as great as it thinks it is.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Whether "Road to Perdition" is trying too hard or not, the point to stay focused on is that it happens to be a very good film.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
10/06/02
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

In lots of ways that matter, this has been another terrifically confident achievement from Sam Mendes; the challenge will be to move on to simpler, less grandiloquent material on a more plausibly human scale.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/02/02
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Contains more than enough brilliance to confirm that American Beauty wasn't a flash in the pan.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
10/02/02
John Wrathall
John Wrathall
Sight and Sound

The storyline of Sam Mendes' second feature may feel meagre, but this is a very classy production.

Full Review Source: FilmFour.com | comment Comment
09/26/02
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
FilmFour.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

'Yes, that's right: it's Forrest Gump, Angel Of Death.'

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
09/19/02
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
Teletext

A powerful, atmospheric crime thriller that blends Godfather-style mayhem with philosophical meditations on the nature of good and evil.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/17/02
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If there's any complaint, it's that the whole film is almost too perfect.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/11/02
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
07/09/02
Mike Goodrige
Mike Goodrige
Screen International

From the first ten minutes you can already guess this is a true epic and masterpiece.

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

While crisply edited and unindulgent, Mendes' work is gratifyingly old-school in its rejection of modern-day stylistic agitation, the better to achieve a slow but inexorable build to its climax.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
08/08/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hanks and Newman are the personification of anguish and torn loyalty in a gripping, violent film that is part character study and part cat-and-mouse chase with classic western embellishments.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

Road is so beautiful, so well composed and so tidy in its sense of justice that it never quite gets its hands dirty enough to evoke any true emotion.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

Sam Mendes's 2002 follow-up to American Beauty finds him every bit as adept, arty, and Oscar hungry.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/17/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

A simple parable, starkly outlined, with talented actors shading these sketches with wisdom and detail.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

An enjoyable, well-acted, written, and directed two hours.

Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment Comment
10/07/04
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com

It's wonderful to see Paul Newman in a great role again.

Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | comment Comment
06/23/04
Judith Egerton
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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Latest News for Road to Perdition

November 05, 2008: Road to Perdition Goes On and On Opens in new window
Max Allan Collins has been signed to write and direct adaptations of the two graphic novel follow-ups to "Road to Perdition," titled "Road to Purgatory" and "Road to Paradise." More...

January 25, 2008: Sam Mendes Making With the Funny for Focus Features
He made his cinematic bones with dramatic films such as American Beauty and Road to Perdition, but director Sam Mendes wasn't born without a funny bone, and he's about to prove it. More...

June 16, 2007: Next Up for Marvel: "Captain America"
Already off to a great start (we hope) with "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk," the Marvel Machine is about to get rolling on their next heroic movie.... More...

June 29, 2006: New Line Greenlights "The Golden Compass" -- for $150 Million
Fans of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series have reason to rejoice this morning: New Line Cinema has given an official greenlight and production date to... More...

See All

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