"Road to Perdition," the new movie from "American Beauty" director Sam Mendes, is almost a masterpiece. I felt dejected as the movie faltered slightly in the middle for about 20 minutes, because the first hour is filmmaking of a supreme caliber - engrossing, terrifying and beautifully rendered. Had the filmmakers maintained the entire movie at this level, people 50 years from now might have been talking about "Road to Perdition" as one of the great crime movies of all time.
Even flawed, it's still a pretty damn good movie and an unflinching contemplation of guilt and sin. It stars Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, an enforcer for John Rooney (Paul Newman), a small-town Irish mobster who has connections to Al Capone. One night Sullivan and Connor Rooney, the Newman character's son, go to commit a murder only to discover that Sullivan's 13-year-old son Michael has stowed away in their car and witnesses the crime. Sullivan promises that the boy won't squeal, but the Rooneys aren't so sure. Connor goes to Sullivan's house to kill the boy, but kills Sullivan's wife and younger son instead. Sullivan and young Michael get away, and the rest of the movie details their growing relationship as they flee a psychopathic mob hitman, played by Jude Law, and figure out how they are going to both survive and commit revenge.
"Road to Perdition" offers long stretches of powerful filmmaking, as well as some truly horrifying moments (this is an exceedingly violent movie.) In one brilliant and disturbing scene, the Jude Law character quietly kills a man as a train goes thundering by the window like the wrath of God.
"Road to Perdition" is also a beautiful film to look at. The veteran cinematographer Conrad Hall, shooting in somber blacks and grays, captures some astonishing images. The most haunting is a shot of apartment tenants staring down through black rain at Hanks after he guns down men in the street. The tenants, implacable behind their warmly lit windows, are like angels looking down reproachfully from heaven.
Hanks continues to astonish. The goofy, sarcastic actor who started out on TV's "Bosom Buddies" has become, against all odds, the greatest movie star of our time, comparable in stature only with the classic stars - Humprey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, William Holden and a few others. Hanks may not be as technically accomplished as some of his contemporaries, but he has a remarkable capacity for empathy, an unparalleled gift for finding the human truth in each of his characters.
He gives a scary, haunting performance in "Road to Perdition." Especially in the opening scenes, this is a Hanks we haven't seen before: taciturn, cold, capable of ferocious acts. Michael Sullivan is a man wracked with guilt, removed from his humanity, who isn't sure if he can be a father to the son that loves him.
The other actors are equally impressive. Like Hanks, Paul Newman has always been both a movie star and a great actor. In this film, he plays a man paralyzed by guilt and terrified of the afterlife. He has a few moments of rage that are as powerful as anything he has ever done. Daniel Craig is superb as his son, twitchy and weak. The newcomer Tyler Hoechlin as young Michael is a completely natural actor, and he creates a touching and believable relationship with Hanks. And Stanley Tucci turns in a great, surprisingly understated, performance as Chicago mobster Frank Nitti.
Because of all this great work, it is disappointing that "Road to Perdition" feels a little contrived in the middle, as Hanks works up a scheme to commit revenge and save his son. This section also includes a few moments of broad comedy that seems out of place in the context of the tragedy.
Also, Mendes and writer David Self haven't quite worked out a smooth emotional arc for the story. The climactic scene, though powerful, should reverberate back through the film and resonate more; instead, it feels slightly flat and perfunctory. It's a logical end to the picture, but somehow it denies the audience the catharsis, the emotional purging, that the rest of the film seems to be leading up to.
Still, "Road to Perdition" is a powerful and thoughtful film. When Newman tells Hanks that the only thing he is sure of is that neither of them will go to heaven, it's a shocking moment. Most movie characters don't think about God, let alone openly fear Him. This is a movie that sees the evil that men do and knows they will pay for it.
Reach Michael Green at starbury@cox.net.
