Dead Man's Shoes

I was looking forward to seeing this film. There is such a good vibe about it, so imagine my puzzlement when presented with a dog's breakfast of a movie. Is there supposed to be tension or suspense? I didn't feel any. Shane loves his fields because there are lots of long lingering shots of them. Just when you think its about to get going up comes another field shot to slow it all down again. To be fair my friend who watched the film at the same time thought it was very moving, however, I couldn't agree less. Flashbacks which are supposed to add meaning to the story instead only serve to confuse. It might have helped if the gangsters had any genuine menace about them but they are so inept that their inevitable dispatch only evokes a 'so what' feeling. The poster proclaims that Dead Man's Shoes redefines the slasher movie. Please give us a break, it redefines only the meaning of 'rubbish film'.

I was expecting something unusual and got it. But not greatness. There was no tension at all. Nary an obstacle to overcome. No grey areas. The bad guys were evil, and got what they deserved. However, they were so very incompetent that kicking over bowling pins might have taken more effort. There were a couple of interesting plot twists, and I did watch the whole thing, so it wasn't awful. That said, I wouldn't recommend it. There are hundreds of better British films and probably thousands of episodes of British TV that are better, many a lot better. There must be something other reviewers of this film see that I don't. This is one of the few films I thought might be really good based on the reviews that wasn't.

Wow, this movie leaves you emotionally and mentally drained by the time you reach the end. As you watch it, you end up really feeling for this lead character who's on a quest of revenge for the death of his mentally challenged brother. His picks off the men responsible for his brother's death one by one. I loved how the movie paced well and didn't linger on any unnecessary scenes; it left you hanging on to every word and anticipating what was to happen next. It was unpredictable and the camera shots tried to make everything and everyone look as natural and real as possible without all the glitz of Hollywood's technology. Two high thumbs up for a heart wrenching movie!

There I was, watching this film, and a scene happens about ten minutes in roughly, where Considine's character confronts a man in a pub. His acting turned the hairs on the back of my neck upwards, and I was glued to the film all the way to the end from then on. I haven't seen a film like this before. It is essentially a revenge movie, but done on a low budget, with a non-star cast, but it was terrific. It just goes to show that you don't need special effects for a good film that keeps you glued. Look how crap The Phantom Menace was, and then look at Twelve Angry Men, and how amazing the script was. The script to this film is good, but the reason for watching it, and liking it is Paddy Considine. He was scary, and put on one of the finest performances I've ever seen in cinema.

Hate to say it, but if this wasn't an indie movie, it wouldn't have gotten a current average score of 7.8 at IMDb. That's just ridiculous. For me it lost a lot on the last 1/3 of the film, where it failed to live up to the promise set by the story until that point. It wasn't brilliant until then, but at least it was getting somewhere from what at first seemed like meaningless violence. I'm not gonna give away any spoilers, so I can't be too specific about my criticism of the content but I can say it uses some late 90s-early 00s clichés which are obviously very tiring at this point. Some of them were just a bad idea from the start. Also the music is pretty terrible. It's either just bad or cheap.

I watched this film by chance and didn't even know what it was about before playing it. It completely surpassed any expectations I could have had. Without any flashy special effects or big budget, this movie will keep a knot in your stomach from the beginning while relating in a sort of intimate way the story of a man delivering retribution to the people who abused his mentally disabled brother while he was away in the army. This is delivered in an explicit way, even though you will find a -very- little humor that in the end only helps to increase the feeling of crudeness and drama. The film is masterfully crafted to give you a full understanding of the reasons behind the avenger's acts only at the end. The acting and soundtrack is also brilliant. This movie won't disappoint you, and will be able to satisfy that part of yourself screaming for justice.

This is easily in my top 10 films of all time. I'm astonished the average rating is only 7.6. I can only assume it is too dark for some. It really does hit you where you live. The story is non-linear, with the current happenings interspersed with flashbacks, which are revealed at just the perfect times to explain the status quo. I lend this DVD out to so many people as no-one I meet has ever seen it until I persuade them to give it a try. It's such a shame more people haven't seen this hidden gem. The acting, story & storytelling is spot on. It just shows you don't need a huge budget to make a 1st class film. I can't recommend it highly enough.