"The Road to Perdition" is an apt title for a movie whose main character, hit man Michael Sullivan, is on the road to ruin. Perdition also happens to be the name of the town where he hopes to find a safe haven for himself and his son, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechman), when he is forced to flee from the mob family that nurtured him. By extension the word perdition is also a clue to the fate of Sullivan’s soul. By film’s end Mike Sullivan can be perceived as totally damned or saved. Damned for the life he’s led, or saved for the guilt free life he bequeaths to his son in his final moments. The audience is pretty much left to their own devices to figure out where he’s going on Judgment Day. Or, one can ignore the moral ambiguity resulting from Michael Sullivan’s last hit and concentrate on the fate on Mike Jr. The story begins and ends with him.

Director Sam Mendes and writer David Self use the adult voice of Michael Sullivan Jr. to introduce us to the world of his father, a seemingly genteel family man who never talks about his job. He works for John Rooney (Paul Newman) who has been more than a father to him and as much as a grandfather as Mike Jr. has ever known. Sullivan’s duties often take him away from his wife and kids. His son is at that inquisitive age when kids begin to notice things. He wants to know what his father does when he sneaks off halfway between bedtime and twilight. He gets his answer when he stows away in the back of the family car. Michael Jr. witnesses a murder. With the speed of a bullet, bonds of loyalty are broken, friendship is a thing of the past, and its every man for himself. Mike Jr. poses a threat to Rooney’s syndicate. This makes Michael Sr. the biggest threat of all. The only truism to emerge from the confusion that follows is that Blood IS Thicker than Water. Michael will do anything to protect his son and John Rooney will likewise stick behind his trigger happy son, Connor (Daniel Craig) and throw Sullivan to the wolves. But Michael is the best and the brightest of his kind. Even when members of his family forfeit their lives, he knows exactly what has to be done and he does it with imagination and cunning.

Tom Hanks and Paul Newman go head to head for acting kudos underplaying their roles in a way that accentuates the secrecy of the mob life. Newman registers regret for the rift that will forever separate them while conveying his loss through pure body language. Hanks on the other hand projects an ingrained fatalism that goes with the territory. When he goes on the lam with his son he shows him his love the only way he knows how by teaching him, not how to be a killer but to be a survivor. The Sullivans have no more secrets but there is plenty of clandestine activity in the Rooney family. Connor has already started taking over the family business behind his father’s back. He is not the dutiful son sowing his seeds of bedlam with his temper, greed and jealousy.

"The Road to Perdition" has some glorious moments that define the shadowy world the Sullivans and Rooney inhabit in the rural America of the 1930s. An Irish wake establishes the relationships of Rooney’s soldiers - a simple piano duet dramatizes the unspoken affection between Sullivan and his surrogate father - the knowing glances and hushed whispers between Michael and his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) that imply her unswerving complicity in her husband’s life - the look on Sullivan’s face that tells you what will go down when he realizes he has been set up for a hit - his meeting with Chicago crime boss, Frank Nitti, that reduces his stature to that of a small fish in a pond full of piranha - the crime photographer (Jude Law) who relentlessly pursues Michael and his son to rub them out - and Sullivan trying to teach his son to drive.

"The Road to Perdition" owes much of its fevered look and feel to acclaimed cinematographer Conrad Hall. The movie’s saturated colors offer visual cues to Sullivan’s state of mind. The texture of the color schemes and the mood it creates change in relation to Michael Sullivans journey from the shadowy world of his mobster past to bright sunlight that celebrates the growing bond between father and son. It is easy to become enamored with Hall’s craftsmanship. It’s a minor point but one that deserves mentioning because it’s a departure from the grittier gangster pictures of the past.

Copyright 2002

Besides "The Road to Perdition," Hall made three other pictures with Paul Newman - "Harper" (1966) - his first Oscar win, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" - and "Cool Hand Luke" (1967).

"Hell in the Pacific" (1968) for director John Boorman

Two for director Richard Brooks - "The Professionals" (1966), a first class western and "In Cold Blood" (1967) a black and white chiller based on the book by Truman Capote.

Two with Robert Redford - "Butch Cassidy…" again and "Tell The Willie Boy is Here" (1969).

Two with Robert Blake - "Tell Them Willie Boy is Here" again and the vastly underrated "Electra Glide in Blue" (1973), which has been called a Highway Patrolman’s answer to "Easy Rider."

"Fat City" (1972) for director John Huston

Two for director John Schlesinger - "Day of the Locust" (1975) and "Marathon Man" (1976).

Two for writer/director Robert Towne (the man who penned "Chinatown") - "Tequila Sunrise" (1988) and "Without Limits" (1998).

"American Beauty" (1999) - his second Oscar win and his first collaboration with director Sam Mendes.