Player's Call - Oran "Juice" Jones

For such a famous director, Sam Mendes has made very few films. Only two in fact; the multi-Oscar winning American Beauty and this 2002 follow-up, Road To Perdition. Although follow-up isn't really the right term, as this is completely different. I was surprised to find that this did not win any major Oscars, although it was nominated for about six, because it really is a brilliant film. I was also surprised that for such a great film, it was not advertised very well; I didn't really know anything about this film before I saw it, and I bet lots of people don't know about it at all, which is a ... more

In 1999 a British theatre director made his first feature film, a relatively low key film which managed to scoop a large number of awards and took both critics and audiences by storm. The film was 'American Beauty' and the director was Sam Mendes. 'Road to Perdition' is Mendes follow up feature, and although it doesn't quite equal 'American Beauty', it is a magnificent film which shows that Mendes has as much to give film as he has already given theatre. What 'Road to Perdition' gives us is a film that is beautifully crafted, stylishly presented and showcases excellent performances across the ... more

This is not a Tom Hanks movie. If any of you have ever been put off by his presence in a film before, then cast that bias aside. This will change your opinion of the man completely, and you will be humming his praises as well as everything else about the flick. Tom Hanks plays a minor gangster, Michael Sullivan, in the US at the dawn of the 1930s. Now, none of us I am sure would have thought of casting him in such a role, unless one were deliberately gunning for those golden statuettes. But here any kind of grand-standing is knocked on the head, leaving a decent, assured performance. In ... more

Having come across a number of reviews recently with reference to this film, I finally made the effort to go and see it this afternoon. Starring big Hollywood figures in the form of Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, and directed by one-film wonder kid Sam Mendes, it has had heavy advertising throughout the past two weeks or so, with Hanks doing a number of interviews in the UK, including Parky, to promote the film. The film narrates the story of Michael Sullivan (Hanks), an assassin working for John Rooney (Newman). One day, his elder son, aptly named Michael too, bears witness to one of his ... more

Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, Academy Award winner Paul Newman, Academy Award Nominee Jude Law in a film by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, shot by Academy Award winner Conrad Hall with a score from Academy Award nominee Thomas Newman. There's some pretty impressive credentials involved with Road To Perdition and I have to admit that the premise interested me but was dampened by some trailers and TV adverts that seemed to have the prestige saccherine feel to them. However these adverts pushed the prestige of the film and once you've seen it then I think you'll agree that it lives up to all ... more