Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LOS ANGELES, July 9 (UPI) -- The new Tom Hanks-Paul Newman gangster drama "Road to Perdition," which opens Friday, throws down an interesting challenge to American movie audiences accustomed to overtly commercial popcorn movies during the summer box-office season. The rest of this week's releases look like the usual summer fare. Advertisement "Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" -- starring Australian adventurer Steve Irwin in a story about a legendary crocodile in need of protection from poachers -- has "summer movie" written all over it. "Halloween: Resurrection" is the latest in the never-ending series of "Halloween" slashers. "Reign of Fire," starring Matthew McConaughey, is a tale about fire-breathing dragons that emerge from the beneath the surface of the earth and try to take over the planet. Any of them could have been released any time of year, but none would be regarded as the sort of prestige movie Hollywood typically stockpiles for the end of the year, when the studios have historically showcased their most promising Academy Award material. Advertisement Until recently, that post-Christmas spot is where "Perdition" -- directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") -- would most likely have been slotted for release. Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, an Irish-American hitman in Depression-era Illinois. He works for a local crime boss (Newman) for whom ruthlessness is the central organizing principle -- regardless of how fatherly and warm he can appear when it suits his purposes. David Self ("Thirteen Days") -- who based his "Perdition" screenplay on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner -- said the notion of a serious, sometimes bleak movie going up against more carefree summer competition doesn't bother him. "I personally think it's nice," said Self. "I go see more movies in the summer. The holiday season gets crowded for me." It isn't just the seriousness of "Road to Perdition" that sets it apart from the rest of the field at this time of year. Pictures with more blatant commercial aspirations tend to deal in moral absolutes -- with bright lines dividing the good guys from the bad. Sullivan is guided -- or misguided, as the case may be -- by a sense of what Self called "moral complacency." Advertisement "He hasn't looked in the mirror for a long time," said Self. In the story, after Sullivan's adolescent son discovers what his dad does for a living, Sullivan embarks on a mission to lead his son to a different path in life -- even as he exacts revenge for the gangland slaying of his wife and younger son. "When he sees what his son is seeing," said Self, "he suddenly begins this chain of -- my ambition is -- he begins this chain of moral reasoning that hopefully spills over into the audience." Think back. How many summer movies can you name that spilled moral reasoning over the audience? Stanley Tucci, who plays the infamous gangland figure Frank Nitti in "Perdition, is intrigued by the idea of such a challenging movie opening during the peak of the summer movie season. "I think it's a good idea," said Tucci. "Shake things up a little bit and give people an alternative." In fact, the Emmy-winning star of "Winchell" and "Conspiracy" said, the moral tone of "Perdition" would be challenging regardless of where the picture was placed on the release schedule. "It's unusual for a Hollywood movie, let's face it," he said. On top of everything else, the movie has something of a downbeat ending -- something that commercial filmmakers tend to shy away from as a rule. Tucci doesn't think that will turn audiences off. Advertisement "No, because I think it's a great movie," he said, "and I don't think everybody wants to see happy ending all the time." Tucci allowed for the possibility that post-Sept. 11 audiences might not be in the mood for anything but a clear-cut approach to moral questions. "America's always wanted that, and wants it even more so now," he said. "We're a very young country. We're like adolescents. Adolescents always want things to be very clear. As you get older you realize that things are more complicated than they really seem and there is no black and white." The movie is a relative Hollywood rarity on yet another count -- in that the writer actually managed to get something of a personal vision on the screen. Self said he wanted the movie to be more than a story of gangsters and revenge, and to examine the compromises the fathers often must make. "Your first reaction (when you see the movie) is, 'What a terrible man this is. Look what he's exposing his son to. Thank God I'm not Michael Sullivan,'" said Self. "Then you say, 'I'm David Self. I put stuff out into the culture. I may not be an assassin but what is my responsibility?'" Advertisement Self said he wrote the movie with his son, now 10, in mind. "I want him to know that I thought about whether I was a good dad, a good role model," he said.
