Road to Perdition film review

Review

Cast & crew

Road to Perdition

(2002)

Director Sam Mendes here follows up his superlative Oscar winner American Beauty with another riveting, intelligent drama imbued with lyrical imagery. Based on a graphic novel set during the Depression era, it features Tom Hanks as a feared hitman working for Irish-American Mob boss Paul Newman, who regards him as a son. Professional and familial loyalties become blurred when Hanks's own family is targeted, forcing him to take to the road with his eldest son, as he embarks on a systematic course of revenge against his betrayers. Comparable to the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing, this evocative gangster movie boasts superb photography, production design and score, which utterly transport the audience back to moody 1930s Chicago. Cast against type, Hanks — whose haunted eyes speak volumes — is a model of unruffled understatement, while an intimidating Newman radiates his usual strong presence. Jude Law's eccentric killer feels too much like a colourful movie creation, but is the only minor setback in a remarkable second feature from Mendes. JC

Contains violence, swearing.

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Running time

112min

Country of origin

Genre

Period Crime Drama

Original language

English

Screenplay

David Self, from the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, Richard Piers Rayner

Theatrical distributor

20th Century Fox

UK cinema certificate

UK cinema release date

September 2002

UK video release date

March 2003




awards information


	Award	Category	Name	Nominee/Winner

	Academy 2002	Actor in a Supporting Role	Paul Newman	Nominee
	British Academy Film Awards 2002	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role	Paul Newman	Nominee
	Golden Globe 2002	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Motion Picture	Paul Newman	Nominee