There’s a reason that Tom Hanks is known as “American’s Dad.” Throughout his career, Hanks has reinvented himself as a likable star for multiple generations. Hanks’ inherent charisma has remained consistent, regardless of the genre of project that he is working on. It doesn’t matter if it's something goofy like Splash or Big, or something as disturbing and emotional as Captain Phillips or Castaway. You can count on Hanks to be “the good guy.”

This is why Hanks’ villainous performance in Sam Mendes’ 2002 gangster thriller Road to Perdition was one of the most fascinating roles of his career. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, the film follows the veteran Irish mobster Michael Sullivan during a crisis of confidence. Sullivan knows that he’s past the point of redemption, but doesn’t want to doom his young son, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin), to the same life that he’s led. Although Sullivan’s intentions are at least somewhat noble, the film does not shy away from the crimes that he has committed.

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Image via DreamWorks

Casting someone like Hanks was subversive, but Mendes gave the Forrest Gump star a rare opportunity to show his dark side, and play a true villain. The tension within Road to Perdition relies on the audience believing that Sullivan is past the point of no return. Hanks didn’t just need to be unlikable; he had to be terrifying. By taking a chance on the disturbing material, Hanks delivered an unsettling performance that ranks among his best. Even 20 years later, it remains a fascinating anomaly within his filmography.

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Prior to directing feature films, Mendes had made a name for himself through his extensive theater work. As a result, Mendes’ early narrative films tended to embody the same elegance of live theater. Road to Perdition won cinematographer Conrad Hall a posthumous Academy Award for its painterly quality. Mendes felt that the film needed to “hold the man at arm’s length from the audience for the first half hour.” Hanks took this challenge by fully immersing himself within Sullivan’s psychology. It was an emotionally grueling task; as a father of four, he understood what it was like to place your child’s life above your own.

These themes of fatherhood are contorted through Sullivan’s troubled relationship with his employer, the mob boss John Rooney (Paul Newman). After losing his parents at a young age, Sullivan was raised by Rooney as a son. Rooney considered Sullivan to be his true heir. His biological son, Connor (Daniel Craig), has caused the mob headaches with his unpredictable, violent temper. Sullivan’s stone-faced seriousness is undoubtedly indebted to the way that Rooney raised him. Sullivan’s quiet dispassion for those around him speaks volumes. When Rooney monologues about the beauty of their paternal bond, Hanks is completely distant.

Road to Perdition

This is particularly effective given how Mendes chooses to frame the story as a reflection by Michael Jr. It’s suggested through the opening monologue that the version of events, or at least the characterization of Sullivan, are based on his son’s perception. The audience needed to be scared of Hanks because Michael Jr. himself has come to fear his father. Sullivan has to serve as Michael Jr.’s protector before being his father. After Michael Jr. witnesses a violent murder conducted by Sullivan and Connor, he finds no comfort in his father’s words. The kind of tenderness that Hanks generally shows is completely absent.

Mendes does not glamorize the violence. When Sullivan kills Rooney’s associate, the speakeasy owner Tony Calvino (Doug Spinuzza), he leaves the scene of the crime in a dispirited sadness. It’s evident from the way that Hanks precisely draws his weapon that this is a task that he’s done many times. The only difference is that he now must bear the shame that his son knows who he really is.

The only reason that Sullivan evokes sympathy is comparing him to Connor. In a way, the failed relationship between Rooney and Connor only strengthens the brief exchanges that Sullivan shares with Michael Jr. Even a moderately playful exchange, such as when Michael Jr. asks his father about his portion of their money, shows the type of sentiment that Rooney has never shown his son. Still, Hanks doesn’t play the moment for laughs.

Image via DreamWorks

The tragedy of Road to Perdition isn’t that Sullivan is denied redemption, but that he was denied the opportunity to better himself. Michael Jr. sums up this idea during his closing lines; he doesn’t answer whether his father was a good man. Hanks could have tried to inject more sentiment into the moments before Sullivan’s demise, but instead, he becomes reflective. When the two visit a farm, the film ponders what life they could have lived together under different circumstances.

It’s fascinating that Road to Perdition’s anniversary falls within a month of another villainous Hanks performance. He recently co-starred as the deceptive music producer Colonel Tom Parker in Baz Luhramman’s Elvis. Hanks’ wild performance as Parker sticks out like a sore thumb in the music biopic. Following Elvis, the restraint that Hanks shows in Road to Perdition is even more impressive.