Road to Perdition is a Boy's Own thriller set in a gloomy, depression-era Chicago characterised by underhand dealings and gangsters who shoot first and ask questions later.

It is about two sons and two fathers. Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), playing against type, is a hit-man for the mob. He is the enforcer for the laconic mob boss John Rooney (Paul Newman). They have two sons: Michael Sullivan Jnr, hit-man Michael's eldest, who wants to know more about his father's work and the embittered Connor Rooney who wants a greater share of his father's business. Jealousy and long-held rivalry put the two families on a collision course and leaves Michael unable to prevent his work as a hit-man from spilling into his home-spun family life.

Road to Perdition is vastly different to Mendes' engaging debut American Beauty. This is colder and more dispassionate, with a lead character who we're supposed to sympathise with, but who kills for a living. Although it is stunningly shot, the film has a stagey grandiose feel that begs the viewer to see it as more than it is.

Hanks brings depth as a man fighting with his own demons and who wanted more for his children. Jude Law turns in a bright performance as an assassin who doubles as a press photographer (he takes pictures as the victim dies) and Anthony LaPaglia (Lantana) makes a manful attempt to mesmerise as the menacing Al Capone. But it is veteran actor Paul Newman who yet again demonstrates his skill of exuding authority through a glance or a stare as the imposing John Rooney.

Sam Mendes has directed something that is workmanlike rather than exceptional. Undoubtedly, expectations were high following American Beauty which left Mendes with a very hard act to follow. He succeeds in part here, but there's the sense that he could have gone closer to the edge of the abyss, to show what it is really like to take the Road To Perdition.