MovieChat Forums > Road to Perdition (2002) Discussion > Who's performance was best: Hanks, Newma...

Who's performance was best: Hanks, Newman or Law?

posted 15 years ago by maxpowersmdh
40 replies | jump to latest

I think Jude Law actually gave the best performance of the three, despite the fact that newman and hanks are in the class of best actors ever. Jude Law played the creepy villain role perfectly, giving me the heebie jeebies. Although both hanks and law played despicable hitmen, I hated law's character and hoped for his demise.

Of course, hanks and newman were great too. "i'm glad it's you" is one of my favorite lines ever in one of my favorite scenes ever.

[–] dsc1215 15 years ago

Newman, but it's a close, close call among all three.

"And like that, poof. He's gone..."

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] slashwylde 15 years ago

daniel craig

[–] rmm413-1 15 years ago

I'd say Newman was the best. He brought a lot of depth to a relatively small part. Just look at his eyes in this film--he's able to convey so much with just his eyes. I would pick Hanks second. This part is going against typecast for him, and he did a convincing and moving job really carrying the whole film. It's an admirably nuanced performance in my opinion. However, I do agree that Jude Law did a very fine acting job too. I was especially impressed with how he even changed his posture and the way that he moved for the part. In most movies I'd say that his acting job would most likely easily be the best in the film; however, in this film, Newman and Hanks did such truly great jobs in my opinion, I'd still have to pick them first.

[–] DigAPonyy 15 years ago

1. Hanks
2. Craig
3. Newman/ Law

[–] Fwank_The_Nutter 15 years ago

Newman for the scenes where he's angry at Craig. Especially when he hits him, then embraces him. Very powerful.

Hanks a close second.

[–] TorontoTed 15 years ago

So hard because all four actors gave spectacular performances.

1) Newman, his presence captivated me most.
2) Hanks, the diner scene showed how he is a powerful actor without words.
3) Craig, the boardroom scene where he apologizes, from where he started to where he ended, Wow what an exchange with Newman.
4) Law. But its not fair to him or anyone else to say they were second best to the others on this list. As they were all spectacular.

[–] m-slovak79 15 years ago

well as other have said above... it's a close call no matter who we choose.

but i will say since i am a big fan of 'hitman themed' films (well ones that are done properly like 'Leon'(1994)/'Collateral'(2004) etc) in general that makes me slightly favor Jude Law's character. i also liked the scene with Law/Hanks in the Diner ;)

so between Hanks/Newman/Law i would probably say...

1.Law
2.Newman (he naturally has a great screen presence ;) , i loved him in The Hustler/The Color of Money (TCOM is a underrated Scorsese film!) although it seems 'Cool Hand Luke' is one of his most known films, which i also think is quite good but i think 'on average' i would take the 'Fast Eddie Felson' films (the two i mentioned here) over it. i am glued to the screen everytime i see em in The Color of Money etc etc. )
3.Hanks

and if you want to throw Craig in there... i would probably put em anywhere between 2 through 4. lol, as like i said it's to close to call as all 3-4 of em gave great performances.

"i'm glad it's you" is one of my favorite lines ever in one of my favorite scenes ever.

i cant say i disagree there ;) ... i also think that scene is quite memorable as it's really well done with the way it looks, the way it's shot, hell... everything ;)

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My Vote History ... http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=11026826
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[–] m-slovak79 9 years ago

a reply to my initial post from over 6 years ago now...

Leon (1994)/Collateral (2004) (which used to be the cream of the crop in the hitman genre for me. nowadays, i might go with The American (2010)(8/10) as my favorite movie of the hitman type of genre even though Jude Law's character in Road to Perdition is great it's not really a hitman themed movie so i don't count it as apart of that genre. but anyways, The American is more of a slower paced movie though.) have taken a hit since then as i find both of those movies pretty average/forgettable nowadays unlike Road to Perdition (2002) which still holds strong (within my Top 20 movies ever out of the 1,925+ total movies i have seen) as i just finished re-watching it a moment ago on Dec 30th 2015. even Cool Hand Luke (1967) has taken a hit for me as i only mildly like it nowadays on a recent viewing back on Nov 5th-6th 2015(mostly the 5th).

but my The Hustler (1961) (8.5-9/10 ; in my Top 49 movies)/The Color of Money (1986) (8/10 ; in my Top 100-ish movies) comments still hold true as i think Newman was born for that role.

but anyways, back to Road to Perdition ; even amongst the whole Hanks/Law/Newman/Craig thing... i would say my order is pretty much the same now as it was 6 years ago... 1)Law 2)Newman 3)Hanks 4)Craig. but like i was saying, it's hard to go wrong with any order amongst those, especially the first three i listed.

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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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[–] antonioxnil 15 years ago

Newman's humanity stands out. His character is so palpable, so true, so living. You can never say "no" to him or hate him or not cheer for him. You feel him and follow him as if it is yourself. That's something he shares with Hanks in a way. You can always sense truth in Hanks's characters. I'll go with Newman in this one though.