Road To Perdition (2002) Dir: Sam Mendes
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This Sam Mendes directed crime thriller has been sat on my watchlist for a little while now, although I wouldn't say I was urgent to see it. That said, I finally got around to watching it one evening, and it gave me some pretty mixed feelings.
I thought it was very poorly paced. There were points where it went far too quickly, and points where it very nearly ground to a halt entirely. It made for slightly tiring viewing, if I'm honest. I will say though, the first twenty minutes and the final twenty minutes were both well done.
More irritating, was just how inconsistent the film was tonally. The threats almost felt casual throughout the bulk of the film, with the exception of the inciting incident and the film's climax. I struggled to feel the stakes of the story, mainly due to how light the film felt, which was not helped by a fairly relaxed soundtrack.
However, things were a lot better in other aspects. I thought there was a strong emotional core to the story, which allowed the actors to feed off of, and gave the narrative a much needed boost. The father-son theme of the story was certainly a good idea.
The narrative was fairly interesting. I wouldn't say it was the most exciting film I've ever seen, in that regard, but there were some good thriller and mystery elements to it, which kept me watching. I particularly loved the last ten or so minutes of the story, which gave the film a real punch to end on.
Tom Hanks provided a decent, if a little unimpressive performance in the film's leading role. He felt ever-so-slightly miscast, in my view. I thought he did well with the fatherly side of his role, but the more serious side just didn't quite match up with him for this character.
Tyler Hoechlin did reasonably well, alongside Hanks. I wouldn't say I was particularly blown away by his acting, but he did well enough in the majority of his scenes. He did have one very good scene towards the end of the film though, I can't deny him that.
I didn't mind Paul Newman's antagonist, in fairness. I don't think he was that intimidating, by any means, but he played the character well, and established the person behind the mob leader pretty well, I felt. I thought he had some very strong scenes with Hanks - the two had good chemistry, that much was clear.
I struggled to determine quite how I felt about Jude Law's performance at first. He, like Hanks, felt a little miscast. Admittedly, Law won me over towards the end of the film, but I still don't believe I'm fully convinced that he was the best choice for the role.
Daniel Craig gave a really solid performance, which I felt deserved a lot more screentime. He was easily the most interesting person on-screen, and his acting was very strong - something he has since become very known for. He was the best actor in the film for my money.
There were some fairly notable performances from supporting cast members - the most notable being the ever-talented Stanley Tucci. The others who I thought deserved name-drops were Jennifer Jason Leigh, Liam Aiken and Ciarán Hinds.
Overall, this was an adequate crime thriller, which had some clear strengths and weaknesses. I don't imagine I'll ever feel the need to rewatch it, but I equally don't feel as though I've wasted my time. It was entertaining enough for an evening's viewing.
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