Tom Hanks navigates the ‘Road to Perdition’

From a mermaid-loving man to Mister Rogers, Tom Hanks certainly has tackled a wide variety of roles in his career.

One of the most different is the Depression-era hit man he plays in the 2002 drama “Road to Perdition,” which MGM+ shows Wednesday, May 22. It’s a necessarily mannered and low-key part for the typically gregarious Hanks, and if it’s difficult to accept him in it, that’s a sign of just how successful he is in it.

The character is a family man as well as a killer, and when his eldest son (Tyler Hoechlin, who’s grown up to be television’s latest Superman) discovers a bit too much about Dad’s business, the seemingly fatherly mobster in charge (Paul Newman, typically masterful in one of his last roles) wants the youngster eliminated.

Instead, the victims become Hanks’ wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and younger son, sending Hanks and his other child on the run ... but with eventual revenge on the father’s mind.

“Road to Perdition” clearly is emotionally complex, quite wonderfully, and it has an ideal director in Sam Mendes — who was coming off his Oscar-winning “American Beauty,” and who also drew a tremendous performance from another actor with whom he would develop an interesting history.

Later directed by Mendes again in the James Bond capers “Skyfall” and “Spectre,” Daniel Craig was a rising, respected British actor who made a very un-Bond-like and impressively American impression in “Road to Perdition” as Newman’s son, a mistake-prone weakling whose attempts to earn his father’s respect only gain him scorn instead. Indeed, Newman looks upon Hanks as more of a son to him, something that definitely doesn’t escape the jealous Craig’s notice.

Also on hand is Jude Law as an outwardly charming assassin recruited by Newman to do the dirty deed of getting rid of Hanks and son. Law’s character has rather odd tastes, extending to his photographing those he kills, and the performer does an excellent job of establishing the sort of charisma that would serve him well in romantic comedies then to come.

Not only in its acting ensemble but also in its look, “Road to Perdition” rates highly. The environment of a somewhat lawless Chicago is perfectly re-created, and it’s a kick to observe automobiles of the era in literal motion. And the dialogue in the David Self screenplay (based on a graphic novel) merits close listening, since some unexpected gems come from certain mouths, such as this from a low-level mob henchman who laments the humanity (or lack thereof ) of the period: “I despair the species.”