Road to Perdition (2002)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Somber, stately, and beautifully mounted, Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition is a well-crafted mob movie that explores the ties between fathers and sons.
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Cast
as Michael Sullivan
as John Rooney
as Annie
as Maguire
as Frank Nitti
as Connor
as Michael Sullivan Jr.
as Peter
as Finn
as Rance
as Kelly
as Calvino
as Drugstore Owner
as Boy Michael Fights
as Alexander Rance
as Rooney's Henchman
as Rooney's Henchman
as Boy Michael Fights
as Finn McGovern's Henchman
as Finn McGovern's Henchman
as Michael's Teacher
as Frank The Bouncer
as Brothel Maid
as Finn McGovern's Henchmen
as Nitti's Henchman
as Nitti's Henchman
as Michael's Teacher
as Secretary
as Irish Musician
as Irish Musician
as Irish Musician
as Irish Musician
as Rooney's Business Associate
as Rooney's Business Associate
as Rooney's Business Associate
as Rooney's Business Associate
as Rooney's Business Associate
as Rooney's Business Associate
as Living Corpse
as Tenement Murderer
as Crime Scene Policeman
as Living Corpse
as Father Callaway
as Aunt Sarah
as Motel Manager
as Cop At Diner
as Farmer at Diner
as Ruby The Waitress
as Mr. McDougal
as Betty The Waitress
as Young Bank Manager
as Prostitute
as Hotel Manager
as Farmer Virginia
as Farmer Bill
as Banker
as Banker
as Banker
as Banker
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Critic Reviews for Road to Perdition
All Critics (212) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (172) | Rotten (40) | DVD (18)
So is Perdition still a must-see? No question. But it's tough to fuss about it much when a picture is this fussy.
Visually, the picture is all of a piece, but it's a self-conscious piece of work -- all dark-toned academic classicism.
What makes the movie pay off is moving pictures of real action and of intimate scenes between man and boy that are all the more moving for being understated.
While crisply edited and unindulgent, Mendes' work is gratifyingly old-school in its rejection of modern-day stylistic agitation, the better to achieve a slow but inexorable build to its climax.
Sam Mendes's 2002 follow-up to American Beauty finds him every bit as adept, arty, and Oscar hungry.
Ploughing a furrowed brow, Hanks is fatally miscast -- except that the story turns so sentimental and bathetic, he's actually in his element.
Audience Reviews for Road to Perdition
Sporting a terrific ensemble cast, stunning cinematography and an intriguing insight into fatherhood amidst the chaos of the mob, Sam Mendes' crime drama manages to explore familiar themes in a fresh and emotionally resonant fashion.
Super Reviewer
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Super Reviewer
Enforcer Tom Hanks is forced to go on the run when his son witnesses a mob hit in his gloriously photographed gangster related road movie from Sam Mendes. In fact little about the film can be faulted technically; all the performances are first rate, it looks absolutely gorgeous and the score is haunting and beautiful. The brief explosions of violence counterpoint the warmth of the father-son relationship well and Mendes' particular brand of visual elegance is particularly pleasing. In fact it's hard to believe that the film is an adaptation of a comic book as it all feels very adult, preferring to explore the characters and their relationships to the kind of comic strip violence you'd usually associate with the genre, which makes for an unusually moving story considering the story revolves around Tommy gun toting gangsters. A refreshingly different take on the crime thriller.
Super Reviewer
Road to Perdition Quotes
| Michael Sullivan Jr.: | What are gonna do? |
| Michael Sullivan: | Just one last thing, and then it's done. |
| Michael Sullivan Jr.: | What are you gonna do? |
| Michael Sullivan: | Just one last thing, and then it's done. |
| John Rooney: | I'm glad it's you... |
| Michael Sullivan: | i saw then that my father's only fear was that his son would follow the same road and that was the last time that i ever held a gun people always thought i grew up on a farm and i guess in a way i did But i lived a lifetime before that in those six weeks on the road in the winter of 1931 When people ask me if Micheal Sullivian was good man or if there was just no good in him at all i always s give the same answer i just tell them he was my father |
| Michael Sullivan: | I saw then that my father's only fear was that his son would follow the same road. And that was the last time I ever held a gun. People always thought I grew up on a farm. And I guess, in a way, I did. But I lived a lifetime before that, in those six weeks on the road in the winter of 1931. When people ask me if Michael Sullivan was a good man, or if there was just no good in him at all, I always give the same answer. I just tell them... he was my father. |
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