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Road to Perdition (2002)
Is it possible to lead a criminal lifestyle and still be a good person? That is the central question posed by this film and probably not one that most people have given much thought. Being a career criminal would seem to preclude any degree of saintliness. And yet Road to Perdition would ask us to consider that a mob hitman by the name of Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) might not be such a bad guy.
The film is set in the Depression era midwest. Sullivan works for John Rooney, a man with an entire city under his thumb. He practically raised Sullivan like a son. The two are very close, so close in fact, that Rooney's own son Connor feels left out. He and Sullivan work together taking care of Rooney's business interests but clearly not peacefully. Sullivan is a family man, married with two young sons. The boys don't really know what their father does for a living. That leads the older son Michael to hide in his father's car one night to find out just what it is that he does. This leads him to witness Connor and Sullivan gunning down Rooney's rivals. Michael is discovered and Connor panics, leading to a hit on Sullivan's family and an attempt on Sullivan himself. Michael and his father survive and hurriedly leave town.
In this film, morality and loyalty are constantly challenged. Grey areas are explored extensively with virtually no characters without sin. Young Michael is the closest to an innocent and his father puts even that in question in his dual quest for revenge and the safety of his son. Sullivan has so long worked in crime that he seems almost to have forgotten that what he does is wrong. So that quest becomes something of an attempt to justify and redeem his life. There is something interesting about a hitman obsessed with finding justice.
Acting is uniformly excellent in the film. Tom Hanks goes against type and plays a less than lovable character for a change. He exhibits a hard edge, a cold exterior previously not shown to audiences. Still, underneath you can sense the kind hearted everyman that has made him such a star. Oddly enough that's exactly the right mixture for Sullivan. Paul Newman comes out of semi-retirement to deliver a wonderful performance to remind us why he's had such a long successful career. Jude Law continues a solid string of performances as a ghoulish hitman who earns extra money selling photos of the people he kills.
I would be remiss in not mentioning the gorgeous cinematography of Conrad Hall. His work captures perfectly the feel and mood of the area, almost seeming to bring the elements into the theater with us. This is the kind of film where you can get caught up admiring the look of it, almost forgetting to follow along with the story. Luckily they considered that and worked the look into the story to keep us focused.
Complaints with this film are fairly minor. The pace is just a hair slow at times, risking losing the audiences attention. A little more time with the entire Sullivan family would have been nice. His career makes for a unique family dynamic, tip toeing around the awkard topic of Sullivan's job while still trying to teach their children right and wrong. It could have been fascinating to watch that in motion before destroying it.
In spite of those gripes, this is a wonderful film. It is more concerned with thought and emotion than action and violence. Intelligent studio films like this should be encouraged before they become extinct.
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