BLU-RAY R ROAD TO PERDITION

ROAD TO PERDITION

Written by TroyAnderson Jul 18th 2010 Hits: 217 Favorites

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THE PLOT THUS FAR

In Road to Perdition, Tom Hanks plays a hit man who finds his heart. Michael Sullivan (Hanks) is the right-hand man of crime boss John Rooney (Paul Newman), but when Sullivan's son accidentally witnesses one of his hits, he must choose between his crime family and his real one. The movie has a slow pace, largely because director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) seems to be in love with the gorgeous period locations. Hanks gives a deceptively battened-down performance at first, only opening up toward the very end of the film, making his character's personal transformation all the more convincing. Newman turns in a masterful piece of work, revealing Rooney's advancing age but at the same time, his terrifying power. Jude Law is also a standout, playing a hit man-photographer with chilling creepiness. This movie requires a little patience, but the beautiful cinematography and moving ending make it well worth the wait.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

Adapting graphic novels has become Hollywood's new practice for the past seven or so years. When DreamWorks announced that they were adapting "Road to Perdition", I was impressed to say the least. Some people have called it the American "Lone Wolf and Cub". Others have declared it as being the most human of all Irish crime tales. But, what did I think?

The film opens on Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) as he enforced John Rooney's will in central Illinois. John Rooney (Paul Newman) has treated Michael as a son since he took him in as an orphan so many years ago. Rooney's own son, Connor, (Daniel Craig) stews in his own anger for being passed over since birth. After Connor sends Michael out on a job, he rushes over to Sullivan's house and kills his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and younger son. Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) only escapes because he was fooling around in his father's car.

Michael tells John Rooney about Connor's actions and he throws down the gauntlet. John can either turn over Connor to Michael's vengeance or he can watch as Michael hunts down Connor and butchers him. John Rooney is torn between his loyalty to his son and to his adopted son. So, John tells Michael to leave. But, Michael isn't going down without a fight.

Michael takes Michael Jr. and explains to him that he's going to his aunt's house in Perdition. Michael Jr. wants vegeance just as much as his dad, but he doesn't want to lose his father in the process. So, Michael Jr. gets to tag along for an additional pitstop to Al Capone's Chicago. Capone isn't in, but Frank Nitti (Stanley Tucci) explains the problem that Sullivan presents. Sullivan's warpath is costing Capone a share of Rooney's profits. The only way that this can be stopped is either by Connor or Michael dying. And, that's when the hired assassin Maguire (Jude Law) enters the picture.

Some people took fault with the addition of Maguire to the film. Not found in the original novel, Maguire provides the film with a sadistic edge that was missing from the original text. While, I'm not that much of a fan of deviating from the text...this time it works. Unfortunately, Jude Law has barely been able to keep up this level of work in his later films.

The Blu-Ray comes with an introduction from Sam Mendes and a ton of featurettes in HD. The most important featurette is a port over from the DVD, but the HD look at Conrad Hall's final amazing cinematography on this film is a sight to behold. He won a much-deserved Oscar for this film and every inch of this 1080p transfer is a testament to Hall's ability to master the shot. There's also a ton of deleted scenes and a trailer. If you're a fan, you'll want to make the purchase. If you just want a reference quality thinking film, you'll want to buy it. This is truly one of the greatest transfers I've seen in 2010.

RELEASE DATE: 08/03/2010