Filmmakers' débuts rarely come more auspicious than Sam Mendes's; American Beauty has already become something of a modern-day classic, and deservedly so. It also prompted Thomas Newman to write the most influential film score (heck, one of the most influential pieces of music of any nature) in twenty years. So their sophomore collaboration, Road to Perdition, was awaited as eagerly as any film in years.

It didn't quite attract the same level of praise, again deservedly so: while it's beautifully made (for the most part it's acted brilliantly, especially by Paul Newman, but Tom Hanks doesn't quite have the gravitas required for the main rôle, and visually it is stunning, with every shot framed to perfection) it feels somehow slightly less than the sum of its considerable parts, one of those films that doesn't quite fulfil its ambitions despite you struggling to think of anything wrong with it.

Newman's score, after a string of low-key efforts like In the Bedroom and White Oleander, marks a return to slightly more upfront composition, but of course always in his unmistakably quirky style. He's such an important composer, being part of that small group that have shown it is still possible to experiment with film music and to have a dynamic musical personality, but sometimes his scores can leave you feeling slightly cold. There's no shortage of highlights here - the opening title cue is absolute, vintage Newman; what could possibly be termed the "main theme", heard first in "Road to Chicago", is an affecting and beautiful piece for piano and strings; "Meet Maguire" is a delightful theme for Jude Law's character on pizzicato strings that resembles the mouse music from The Green Mile; and you could almost be back in Little Women when you reach "Dirty Money", a playful scherzo featuring some of that beautifully crisp brass which Newman does so well. But just as with the film itself, these moments of brilliance seem somehow not to combine into something equally brilliant. Again it's difficult to find much fault, but somehow the album just isn't quite as engaging as you feel it could be. (This may well be in no small part due to the ill-fitting period songs strewn throughout, which disrupt Newman's carefully-constructed atmosphere no end.)

Having said that, the positives outweigh the negatives by a considerable margin and Road to Perdition is unquestionably one of the finest scores of 2002. A few minutes chopped off the album (including all the songs) and the album would be rather better, but it's still very good just as it is.

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