This movie is a little out of place – released in the summer, it looks and feels like one of those late year Oscar-caliber pictures. Doesn’t matter to me – it’s a great movie whatever time of year you see it.

I know I’m not alone when I say many of us growing up wondered what our Dads did for a living. Many fathers were rather mysterious – imposing figures who quietly entered the house after a long day at work. They spoke very little about the job and, unlike Mom, their emotions were hard to figure. This story is told through the eyes of one boy – a twelve year-old named Mike Sullivan. His Dad is played by Tom Hanks and they look like a typical 1931 suburban family. Mike isn’t sure what Dad does all day, he just knows he works for kindly old Mr. Rooney, played by Paul Newman.

One day Mike spots Dad with a gun and that arouses his curiosity. You see Mr. Rooney is a local crime boss and Dad is his enforcer. Okay – his bill collector, his hit man, whatever you want to call him. So this is not a typical family where Dad works at the plant. But since Mike is just a kid, he follows Dad one day and sure enough, a guy gets plugged. The killer isn’t Dad, it’s the wacky son of Mr. Rooney. This guy then decides he has to kill Mike so he won’t talk because the son shouldn’t have killed that guy.

That sets up our moral dilemma encased in a story of very immoral guys. You see, Mr. Rooney is like a Dad to Tom Hanks, but Tom has to avenge some killings and save the life of his son Mike. That means he has to knock off Mr. Rooney’s biological son who started all this. And this was well played out. These are 1930’s mobsters, and unlike goofballs as in the John Gottis of today, they had a code and certain rules they had to live by. You kill my family, I kill you. A man always sticks by his blood relatives, no matter what. Plus, Tom is trying to save his kid from ending up in the same line of work as he has.

I can’t object to much in this movie – the acting is fantastic, the story absorbing, the violence just graphic enough. Hanks is great as the quiet tough guy. He pulls it off even without looking the part. Newman as the tortured crime kingpin is also sensational, trying to save Tom, his son and his own son. And Jude Law as the quirky hit man out to kill Hanks is also a great addition.

This film is directed by a guy named Sam Mendes, who is known for the movie “American Beauty”. I do have to say this – since Mendes was a theatre guy before he did films, he does have a tendency to go over the top. There’s a showdown scene late in the movie that is staged like a live play. I was reminded of “West Side Story” and half-expected the people to break out singing. But that aside, check out the scenery and staging here. It’s unbelievably elaborate and you can’t take your eyes off of it. You do feel right in the middle of 1931.

Some are complaining this movie tries too hard for award nominations. Others tell me they were “bored”. To that I say bring me more guys who try “too hard” because most movies I see look like “clock punching” jobs. And as to being bored – well, either you are into the people and the story or you’re not, and I was certainly was into the “Road To Perdition”. I give it a “10” on the scale.