July 16, 2002 -- "Road to Perdition" is the best film of the year so far. This depression-era gangster saga of fathers and sons swells with great performances, stylish cinematography and evocative production and set design. It shows what Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes can do when he's got a great script to work with. This is a superior film to Mendes' first movie, "American Beauty."

Perennial Oscar contender Tom Hanks stars as Mike Sullivan, a hit man working for Irish mob boss John Rooney (played by Paul Newman of "Message in a Bottle"). When Sullivan's son, Michael Sullivan Jr., witnesses a mob murder, father and son are forced to go on the run. Sullivan takes murderous measures to try to ensure the survival of his son. Meanwhile, Rooney is also concerned with his own son, Connor (played by Daniel Craig of "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider"). Connor is bad to the bone, but his father loves him and cannot bring himself to do what must be done. Both Sullivan and Rooney are friends and are both men of honor, but Connor's murderous deeds have made them reluctant enemies.

The film, reminiscent of great American gangster films like "The Godfather," "Donnie Brasco" and "Goodfellas," is, in essence, a morality play with no good guys, no heroes, only desperate men beyond redemption. This is highlighted in a climactic scene between Rooney and Sullivan. Rooney says of himself and Sullivan, "There are only murderers in this room! Open your eyes! This is the life we lead ... the life we chose ... There is only one guarantee. None of us will see heaven." Fittingly, the scene takes place in the crypt of a church. The script is skillfully crafted by David Self ("Thirteen Days"). The title, a classic, refers to a resort on the shore of Lake Michigan (there is no real town in Michigan named Perdition). In this case, Perdition is just another name for hell, and the road to it isn't even paved with good intentions. The Michigan scenes were filmed in the summer of 2001 in Port Sheldon Township, Saugatuck and Olive Township.

The acting in the film is superb with Hanks, Newman, and Jude Law leading the way (Law, of "Artificial Intelligence: A.I." plays hit man Harlen "The Reporter" Maguire). Young Tyler Hoechlin is excellent as Sullivan's son, and Stanley Tucci ("A Midsummer Night's Dream") gives some dignified competence to his role as Capone's enforcer, Frank Nitti. Daniel Craig exudes evil as Rooney's son, while Dylan Baker of "Changing Lanes" is stylishly slimy as mob bookkeeper Alexander Rance. The story, based on the comic book by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner is meticulously logical. The ending of the film is predictable, but only because it is inevitable. The story is also very much character driven. The action is set in motion by an inexorable chain of events leading to a vicious cycle of revenge. The film, thankfully, avoids graphic violence for the most part. Much of the violence occurs off-camera. My only quibble with the film is one scene which has a man hiding behind the flimsy lid of a chest. This is insufficient shelter from a shotgun, since the man in the next room was killed by shotgun pellets going right through the walls. But it is not a large issue.

The film is set in 1931 and the production values are flawless, the cars, the clothes, the scenery, the sepia overtones of the film's color palette all seem authentic and evocative of the era. Kudos to production designer Dennis Gassner ("The Man Who Wasn't There"), art director Richard L. Johnson ("Artificial Intelligence: A.I."), set decorator Nancy Haigh ("O Brother Where Art Thou?") and costume designer Albert Wolsky ("Galaxy Quest"). Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall's ("American Beauty") skillful work delivers memorable images from dark, shabby rooms to brightly-lit open landscapes. Mendes does a fine job directing the film and he and editor Jill Bilcock ("The Dish") cut it down to the spare essentials, without excess narration and bloated dead-end backstories. This is a beautifully-crafted film. It rates an A.

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