Road to Perdition (2002)

Outline: Michael Sullivan, Sr. (Tom Hanks) must take his son, Michael, Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) on the run in the winter of 1931 after Michael, Jr., witnesses Connor (Daniel Craig), the son of his boss, John Rooney (Paul Newman), murder another man.

Of course, the title is a little misleading. This movie should be called American Beauty Lite: All the heartbreak but half the clever. Such a disappointment.

I suppose that genius directorial debuts like Sam Mendes' don't go unpunished. You are apparently doomed to make the same movie again.

But April, you say, you can't tell me that present day and the Depression are the same thing. You're right. I also can't tell you that Hanks and Kevin Spacey are the same actor. I would, however, go as far as to say that they are actors of the same calibre.

In this case, Newman steps into the role of Chris Cooper's violent and confused father. Newman plays up his age with those slow, small steps, as well as a father's love for a disobedient son.

It's all so beautiful and compelling to watch, but there simply isn't an original word in David Self's screenplay. His earlier attempts, The Haunting (1999) and Thirteen Days (2000), are polar oppositions. It's so very strange. It's almost as though he doesn't really know what he's doing. He writes without considering the words he's using.

And if Thomas Newman recycles his score from American Beauty one more time, I'm going to find him and kick him. It's frustrating to hear talent like that and never hear that same ingenuity again.

What a waste. A beautiful and poignant waste but a waste nonetheless.