Directed by Sam Mendes

Writing credits Max Allan Collins (graphic novel) and Richard Piers Rayner (graphic novel)

Cast

Tom Hanks .... Michael 'The Angel of Death' Sullivan
Tyler Hoechlin .... Michael Sullivan, Jr.
Paul Newman .... John Rooney
Jude Law .... Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire
Daniel Craig .... Connor Rooney
Stanley Tucci .... Frank Nitti
Jennifer Jason Leigh .... Annie Sullivan
Kevin Chamberlin .... Frank the Bouncer
Dylan Baker .... Alexander Rance
Ciarán Hinds .... Finn McGovern
Liam Aiken .... Peter Sullivan
Duane Sharp .... Father Callaway
James Currie .... Factory Worker
Gene Janson .... Chief of Police



(opening lines of Road to Perdition spoken by Michael Sullivan, Jr.) There are many stories about Michael Sullivan. Some say he was a decent man. Some say there was no good in him at all. But, I once spent six weeks on the road with him, in the winter of 1931. This is our story.



Peter Sullivan - Why are you always smiling?
Connor Rooney - Cause it's all so fucking hysterical.



John Rooney - Just the fella... our secret, right? I'm talking about the dice. A man of honor always pays his debts and keeps his word.
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - I'm going to be late for school.



John Rooney - Natural law, sons are put on this earth to trouble their fathers.



(Note written on a piece of paper that Michael Sullivan, Sr. delivers) - KILL SULLIVAN AND ALL DEBTS ARE PAID.



John Rooney - God damn you... GOD DAMN YOU... I... curse... the... fucking... day you were born. I curse it. (pounding Connor Rooney with two fists)... Oh Lord, oh Lord, God help us, God help us.



(Michael Sullivan, Sr. to Michael Sullivan, Jr. after his youngest son and wife have been killed) - This house is not our home anymore. It's just an empty building.



Frank Nitti - We all just heard what happened. Jesus, I'm sorry Mike.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Well, thank you for seeing me Mr. Nitti.
Frank Nitti - Come on, sit down. Would you like some coffee or a...
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - No.
Frank Nitti - You sure?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Yes, thank you.
Frank Nitti - So, what can I do for you Mike?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - I'd like to work for you.
Frank Nitti - Well, that's very interesting.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - And in return I'd like for you to turn a blind eye to what I have to do.
Frank Nitti - Is one more body going to make a difference?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - This is a good proposal Mr. Nitti. I will work for only you and you know I can do a good job.
Frank Nitti - I respect you Mike, I really do. We would like nothing more than for you to come aboard and work for us. But not like this. What you're asking me is impossible.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Is it?
Frank Nitti - Let me explain something to you that maybe you haven't realized. All these years you've been living under the protection of people who care about you and those same people are protecting you now, including me, so if you go ahead with this, if you open that door, you're walking through it alone and all that loyalty and all that trust no longer exists for you. And Mike, you won't make it... not on your own and not with a little boy.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - You're protecting him already?
Frank Nitti - We're protecting our interests Mike.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - I drove all through the night to see you...
Frank Nitti - And I appreciate it. Now I suggest you drive yourself back. Go home Mike. Go home and bury your wife and child with our blessing.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - It won't be that simple.



Frank Nitti to John Rooney - You heard?
Connor Rooney - Dad, listen to me, he's in the building. You can end this now. You gotta take him now.
John Rooney - Connor? Get upstairs. God help me... God help me. What do I do?
Frank Nitti - You think objectively and you make your choice. What would you do if Sullivan were just some guy?
John Rooney - God help me... make it quick.
Frank Nitti - And the kid?
John Rooney - Oh Christ, no.
Frank Nitti - And one day the kid becomes a man. Think he won't remember?
John Rooney - I said not the kid.
Frank Nitti - Alright. I know who to call. It's a guy who has done some work for us in the past. He's gifted.



(Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire sits down at a table facing Michael Sullivan, Sr. in a roadside diner) - Don't mind me sir. It's a free country. Used to be anyhow. (Michael Sullivan, Sr. offers Harlen some drink from his flask) No thank you sir. (Harlen puts some film into a camera and sets it on the table in front of him)
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Is that your profession or your pleasure?
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - Both I guess. To be paid to do what you love, ain't that the dream?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - I guess so.
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - Yourself?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - A salesman, machine parts.
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - Machine parts, that's wonderful.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - I assure you it's not. So who do you work for?
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - Can you keep a secret? I'm press.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Which paper?
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - All over. I'm something of a rarity.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - How's that?
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - I shoot the dead. Dead bodies, that is. I don't kill them.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Oh, I should hope not.
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - Always fascinated me. The look of them, you know. You ever seen one?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Yeah.
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - Sorry for you. Terrible thing, but it sure makes you feel alive, don't it?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - I'll drink to that.
Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - Stuff makes ya sweat, huh?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Yeah, piss too.



Alexander Rance - This is Mr. Rance in the bridal suite and before you offer your phony congratulations, there's no Mrs. Rance residing with me and I'm all the better for it. Now listen... carefully... because I am in no mood. I'm going to say this only once. I would like a boiled egg and I want it runny.



Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Hello.
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - I had a bad dream.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - You want to talk about it?
(Michael Sullivan, Jr. nods No)
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Well come on in, take a seat if you want.
(Michael Sullivan, Jr. looks at his father's papers on the table)
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - Math, huh?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Yeah, I always hated it.
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - Me too.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - So what do you like?
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - Huh?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - What subjects do you like? Did you like? In school.
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - Bible history maybe.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Why?
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - I like the stories. Peter was good at math.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Was he?
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - Did you like Peter more than me?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - No... no Michael. I love you both the same.
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - But you were different with me.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Was I? Well, maybe because Peter was such a sweet boy, you know? And you, you were more like me. And I didn't want you to be. I didn't mean to be different.
Michael Sullivan, Jr. - Okay. G'nite pa.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - G'nite. (Michael Sullivan, Sr. and Michael Sullivan, Jr. hug)



John Rooney - I didn't think I'd ever see you again.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Read this. Connor has been stealing from you for years. He's kept accounts open under the names of dead men. Men like the McGoverns. I stood there to help him kill to line his own pockets. I thought I was working for you. I wasn't.
John Rooney - You think I'd give up my son?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - He was betraying you.
John Rooney - I KNOW. Now listen to me. I tried to avoid more bloodshed, you wouldn't accept that so I did what was necessary, but I've always loved ya like a son and now I'm telling ya, leave, before it's too late.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Think. Think... they are protecting him now but when you are gone they're not going to need him anymore. This ends with Connor dead no matter what.
John Rooney - That may be, but you are asking me to give you the key to his room so you can walk in, put a gun to his head and pull the trigger and I can't do that.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - He murdered Annie and Peter.
John Rooney - There are only murders in this room. Michael! Open your eyes. This is the life we choose, the life we lead and there is only one guarantee, none of us will see heaven.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Michael could.
John Rooney - Then do everything that you can to see that happens. Leave, I'm begging you. It's the only way.
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - And if I don't?
John Rooney - Then I will mourn the son I lost.



Michael Sullivan, Jr. - What are you going to do?
Michael Sullivan, Sr. - Just one more thing and then it's done. Go back to bed Michael.



(In an operatic, rain soaked street scene, in which six of John Rooney's associates are shot dead by Michael Sullivan, Sr., John Rooney turns to Michael Sullivan and says...) - I'm glad it's you.



Harlen 'The Reporter' Maguire - (sets up tripod after shooting Michael Sullivan, Sr. two times and says...) - Smile.



(Closing lines of the movie said by Michael Sullivan, Jr.) - I saw then that my father's only fear was that his son would follow the same road and that was the last time I ever held a gun. People always thought I grew up on a farm and I guess, in a way, I did. But I lived a lifetime before that, in those 6 weeks on the road, in the winter of 1931. When people ask me if Michael Sullivan was a good man or if there was just no good in him at all, I always give the same answer... I just tell them... he was my father.



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