Road to Perdition / Проклятый путь (2002)

Based on a graphic novel authored by Max Allan Collins, the film is a tale about the Irish Mafia set in 1930s Chicago. At its heart is the relationship between fathers and sons; after his professional life tragically impacts his domestic life, hit man Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) sets out on a wintry journey of self-discovery with his son, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin). Along the way, Sullivan must come to terms with his adoptive father, Irish crime lord John Rooney (Paul Newman). "Road to Perdition is a period movie in which there are no double-breasted, pin-striped suits and no spats," Mendes says. "I was trying to get away from all the clichés of the gangster genre."
Hall's overarching strategy for the film dovetailed with the director's goal by favoring naturalistic realism over a more stylized approach to the material. "The thing that makes this picture work so well is a kind of honesty," Hall says. "It's a sort of honest reality that doesn't try to be theatrical in any way. There is no blue moonlight, no green vistas, none of that kind of stuff. The film has very carefully crafted compositions, it's meticulously cut, and it's paced very gently and slowly — all of which is good for the story."