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Now Road to Perdition is a film that plays itself like a film-noir so expertly that should it had been released at the 40's, the heyday of film-noir, it would've been very trend-setting. But of course, technology sometimes has it's advantages and it's brilliantly showcased here, making it one of the most beautiful, visual-wise, films I've ever seen. The story-line is simple, yet capturing and is very plausible. I liked virtually everything about this film: The actors, the set, the dialogues, the scenes everything...
Now you see, Tom Hanks's career is divided into two parts: Pro-Gump and Post-Grump and this film, alongside Cast Away and, to further extend, The Terminal stands out as his best pro-Gump films. Not to say his others are not good but these three are among his greatest. His portrayal of Michael Sullivan won me over. He had the built, the look and the voice of a 30's / 40's gangster and he blended in easily. He shares an almost flawless chemistry with Daniel Craig, who plays Connor Rooney, despite the fact they're together on-screen only for a couple of minutes. I would love to see them together in another film. Paul Newman as John Rooney was like the backbone of the film. Handling his character effortlessly, he reminded me of a less-lazy version of Vito Corleone. Tyler Hoechlin gave a decent performance as Michael Sullivan, Jr. If you watch the film, it may not seem much but if you review it afterwards, then you will realize how convincing he really was. A minor setback, however, was Jude Law as the merciless photo-killer Maguire. His performance was good but it bordered somewhere in the lines of being cartoonish. It was like as if the school's nerdiest kid trying to act like a tough bully but an OK performance nonetheless.
In conclusion, this is one of the best polished, and beautiful, gangster films of all time and one that has a-lot more than just your average Tommy-guns or violence acts. It has a story and it has fleshed-out characters! A must watch...
8.5/10
