Review of Dead Man Down (2013) by Mloy X — 22 Jan 2014

Darcy (Dominic Cooper): Did you choose not to kill me 'cause I've got a wife and a kid?

Victor (Colin Firth): No. I didn't kill you because they've got you.

Great cast! I already like Colin Farrell and Dominic Cooper as actors, but I love Noomi Rapace. She just had this very unique quality about her. She's alluring but not in the classic sense and there is definitely an air of mystery around her which coupled with Farrell's traditional broodiness makes for a pretty explosive on-screen chemistry. The biggest disappointment was Terrence Howard; he's normally a pretty good actor but I felt he was somehow miscast in this film or just phoned-in his performance because he was exceptionally bad. The story was interesting. I liked the intrigue, the little cat and mouse game with the pieces of the puzzle that accompanies each murder. It was a good twist to the old genre. Overall, the movie was interesting, albeit a bit of a sluggish pace but worth the wait. The main characters are both very interesting and I love that they are a bit of an anti-hero-type and are both teetering on the side of good and bad-- they're not angels but I can't help but root for them to have the stereotypical happy-ending (I don't know, maybe it's just the romantic in me). I really enjoyed this movie, it has a strange dark-quirkiness about it that oddly appealing. I don't, I dug it.