Dead Man’s Shoes (2004) – Shane Meadows
Country: UK. Running Length: 90 minutes
Released overseas (UK) in 2004 this dark journey of vengeance and spiritual ascension somehow slipped under my radar. That is until it showed up in my mail slot last week thanks to Zip.ca. After an especially late Saturday night, I sat down to watch what I thought would be a fast paced action-y/thriller. Far from the cut and dry frenetic pace of the standard UK crime film (See: Snatch, get Carter) and more in line with Straw Dogs, this movie blew my mind, and is one of the best films I’ve seen in the last twelve months and left me with a dry mouth that had nothing to do with my hangover..
The Director (Shane Meadows) also co-wrote the film with the help of the lead actor Paddy Considine, some of you may know Meadows from his previous work writing and directing This is England (also quite brutal and powerful).
Dead Man’s Shoes concerns the return of a disaffected army vet to his home town where he systematically executes the men responsible for the mental and physical torture of his younger developmentally disabled brother. The film has an epic poetic feel to it as the main character travels through the film firm in his mission and sure of the outcome. Every killing is accompanied by some of the most psychologically terrifying tactics I’ve seen on film, and culminating with executions that while over the top in context are often quiet, nearly bloodless and wholly real in their effect on the viewer.
The acting is top notch with the superb acting skills of Considine demonstrating why he is becoming well known in both American and British cinema. The film runs a brisk 90 minutes however for this reviewer time seemed to slow down at times as Richard set the gears in motion to annihilate his prey. While there are a few plot holes they are easily forgiven due to the power of the main character and his drive for a useless redemption through bloodletting mental destruction and death. I recommend this film to anyone interested in psychologically based character studies as well as bloody crime flicks or even slasher horror in respect to the ethical/moralizing of the actions of the main character as well as the gratuitousness of murder in the film.
An interesting side-note IMDB has Dead Man’s Shoes sitting at 8/10 which is amazing for that sites user demographic which tends to under rate crime films.
- Willy
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