When you think of Tom Hanks, I don’t think Road to Perdition readily comes to mind because he’s been so likable for several decades. Therefore him playing a regional gangster’s muscle was a stretch with audiences. I really wanted to see this due to its source’s author, Max Allen Collins. I can’t remember when he took over but I knew him for years as the guy writing the Dick Tracy comic strip in the Chicago Tribune.
Spoiler rule is off, the movie was released 18 years ago
Tom Hanks is Mike Sullivan and the story is told from his older son’s memory, Mike Sullivan Jr. What dad does for a living is a mystery which in gangster terms, “he provides,” tends to be the answer. Junior is at that age when he’s more curious than smart so he stows himself in his father’s car one evening to see what “talking” to an associate means. Thanks to the local boss’ son being a sociopath, Junior witnesses what Mike does…kill people. However, the local boss and his son decide the Sullivans are now a liability leading to life on the run.
I’ll leave it there.
Great performances as expected from Stanley Tucci as Frank Nitti (wrong build though), Paul Newman as the local boss, Jude Law as a hitman and a younger Daniel Craig as Paul Newman’s idiot son. The movie’s failure was likely attributable to audiences not wanting to see Tom Hanks involved in such gore-filled shootouts. It was pretty tame even for 2002 standards. I personally enjoyed it. The father-son dynamic was what made it work.