Beautiful photography and a good performance by Newman raises this long dreary drama to 'watchable' and Hanks shows less emotion than Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti movie as he 'eyebrows' his way through the whole thing.

British director Sam Mendes decides that style over substance might just nab him an award or two, which ultimately drags down this weary non-adventure. Set in 1931, the film stars Tom Hanks as Illinois mob enforcer Michael Sullivan. He (and everyone else in the movie) works for mob boss John Mooney (Paul Newman), a man he considers a surrogate father. Mooney, in turn has a son of his own, the vicious, lunatic and quick-tempered Connor (played well, by British actor Daniel Craig). Meanwhile, Michael’s own son (newcomer Tyler Hoechlin) hitches a ride, uninvited, in the old mans car and discovers first hand what his father does for a living... Can you see all the elements of a huge yawn fest developing here?

So, when a hit goes wrong and Michael finds himself tragically betrayed by Mooney, he takes his own son on the road in order to  ‘save his soul’. Their destination? A little town named Perdition, which, as you may have guessed, is no coincidence, given that Perdition means ‘hell and damnation’. Clever, eh?

The character Hanks plays is meant to be ambiguous – the opening lines say “Some say he was a decent man, others say he was no good at all” – but we are never in any doubt. Sure, he shoots a few people in the film, but you always end up thinking ‘Ooh, look, it’s Tom Hanks killing people’. Newman turns in a scary performance, especially his confrontations with Hanks. “None of us will see heaven!”

In short, there are some impressive moments in the film and some great shots, but it is ultimately dull. It’s also too long, slow and let down by a vomit-inducing ending.