Road to Perdition (2002)

Casting the nicest movie star in America as a mob enforcer is a wild swing, and the catch is that Tom Hanks plays it so buttoned up you forget there’s a person under the hat. Sam Mendes shoots 1931 Illinois like a row of paintings in a cold museum: snow, rain, dark wood, light through windows. It’s gorgeous, and a little chilly. Paul Newman is the warm heart and the scary heart at once, a boss who loves Michael like a son and loves his own reckless son Connor more. Daniel Craig makes Connor a nervous little disaster. Jude Law steals every minute as a creepy crime-scene photographer. Tyler Hoechlin holds his own as the boy on the road with his dad. The violence is quick and mostly offscreen. It made $181 million worldwide on a reported $80M. An 8.2 because it’s a sad, beautiful father and son story that’s a little too polished to touch. $232 says you pull up an old photo of you and your dad this week and linger on it longer than you planned.

What works: Paul Newman and Jude Law are terrific, and each shot is composed like something you’d stand in front of at a gallery.

What doesn’t: Tom Hanks plays Michael so closed off that his grief barely reaches the surface, and the middle stretch drags.

Who it’s for: Fans of slow, handsome crime dramas about fathers, sons and the jobs they never talk about at dinner.