365 Movies Day #216 "Dead Man's Shoes"

Another great revenge film! I love these things. This one stars Paddy Considine ("Cinderella Man", "The Born Ultimatum", "Hot Fuzz") as a returning soldier who finds that his mentally handicapped brother has been abused by a group of low-life thugs while he was gone. This becomes incredibly bad news for them as Richard (Considine) marks them all for a very unhappy time.

One of the most impressive things to come from this film is a fairly unknown actor named Toby Kebbell. A couple years ago when I saw a little flick called "Rock N Rolla" I said, this guy is good. He played Johnny Quid in that film. You may also recognize him from "Prince of Persia", "War Horse" or even "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". He was also the lead in another flick I'll be talking about next up. Kebbell plays Richard's mentally retarded brother Anthony and he does it very well. Robert Downey Jr. would approve.

Former British boxer Gary Stretch (who played in "Megashark Vs. Crocasaurus" which features my homeboy Brandon Slagle) is spot on here and one of the best things about this film is that the badguys have very realistic reactions to the mayhem around them. They feel loss. They feel regret. They are scared. They are so feeling that to a certain extent you almost feel bad for them. Considine and Stretch have a showdown in one part of the film that may be one of the most badass moments I've seen in a film for awhile and not a blow one is thrown or a gun pulled. In fact, I think there is only one gun in the whole film. Shane Meadows does a fantastic job as director and co-writer with Considine of giving us great characters to watch, gritty realism and a couple twists near the end that will kick you right in the brain.

DEAD MAN'S SHOES ON IMDB