Road to PerditionThe title says it all and except for a lot of neat old 1920s vintage cars there is not much in this film to praise. The story is about crime, revenge, ambush and slaughter. Possibly a moral would be, there is absolutely no honor among thieves. Its not my kind of film so I begin with a bias.

The open scene is a boy standing alone on a beach and it is also the ending scene. Its an ominous message and rightfully so. This character, Michael Sullivan Jr. is played convincingly by Tyler Hoechlin. He is 15 but looks younger. This is Hoechlins third film role and he did well in it. Its just too bad it happened to be this film. His other two films were family fare.

The protagonist is Michael Sullivan, the boys father, played by Tom Hanks. As a result of the story line, he spends a lot of time.with a creased forehead, looking either perplexed or sorrowful. He didnt convince me that he was a vengeful killer or a sociopath. This may have been the conflict between his role as criminal and his role as father. I liked Hanks in other work he did, The Green Mile (1999), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Forrest Gump (1994), Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and earlier comedies. Im trying to ignore Castaway (2000).

Paul Newman as the crime boss, John Rooney, was good. Newman was 77 when he did this role and he is still going strong. He has always had the ability to look respectable, determined and tough. That combination works in this film.

One of my favorite actors, Stanley Tucci played another crime boss, Frank Nitti. He has had a lot of secondary parts, but my favorite Tucci film is one he wrote, directed and starred in called Big Night (1996).

Regardless of the good acting, I cant recommend this film unless, as I said, youre into crime, revenge, ambush and slaughter.