9. Road To Perdition
Sam Mendes is a director who is an absolute master at bringing together themes of family with stylized dialogue and situations. Road to Perdition is a brilliant sophomore effort from him in that it features characters who epitomize the types of broken people that he frequently deals with but also the elegant direction that has come to characterize his work. Mendes lets the events of the narrative take center stage even though his movie is very stylized. The marriage of style and substance that pervades throughout Road to Perdition is the film's greatest strength. The story of the tarnished relationship between fathers and sons presents a very strong sense of drama while the gangster elements of the film allow Mendes to shoot interesting and sometimes visceral violent sequences. In Road to Perdition, Mendes has succeeded in adapting the narrative because he was able to present the characters in a sympathetic light just as they were in the comic. Also, he was also able to add further depth to their decisions that really allowed the audience to feel the gravity of the film.