Review of Dead Man Down (2013) by Ray H — 20 Mar 2013

The story is not very believable. That is a major problem. Movie goers are always asked to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the show. Its really hard to do that here. So, the overall experience is disappointing. Its too bad. Because the: dialogue, acting, directing, cinematography, and soundtrack are all good, even excellent. This made the movie enjoyable in little bits and pieces. It was pleasant; but in the end, not very satisfying.

The lead actors are all excellent. Our protagonists are: Victor (Colin Farrell) and Beatrice (Noomi Rapace). Victor is a widowed engineer, ex-military guy, who embarks on a long revenge scenario. He is shown to have extreme skill w/ weapons and ready access to them. He goes about his plan in a very complicated manner. He could have just shot and killed the guy he was after. Beatrice is also out for revenge. She wants someone killed. She could have just settled upon maiming. And, she could have done that by herself. But, she really, really, wants this revenge victim dead. All of the above did not make much sense to me.

Our chief evil-doer, is Alphonse (Terrence Howard). This guy is always very, very, good. He is excellent here. Unlike many other macho, action actors, Mr Howard can bring a subtlety to his roles. Whether he is a sympathetic character (see him in THE BRAVE ONE), or some bad-guy; he can bring all kinds of nuance to his performances. Here, he does menacing evil very well. I like to watch this man work. I hope he gets an Oscar worthy role at some point. He can bring it. He could step into a role that Denzel W. would normally be offered very easily. I think he is just as talented, just as good.

We have competent acting amongst all the supporting actors as well. There is a criminal crew of Jamaican gangsters, another crew of Albanian gangsters, and our central crew of American-African-Caucasian-Latin gangsters. A real potpourri of bad guys, only in America. All of the secondary characters were believable.

There is an unlikely romance we see coming between Victor and Beatrice. She is one very odd, even dangerous, woman. Whats the appeal there?

Toward the end, we have an odd plot twist; and we see it coming a mile away. The only purpose of this twist is to set up the grand finale shootout. And, that shootout is quite a stretch. The following resolution is similarly unlikely, and unbelievable.

If you dont expect too much; its possible to enjoy individual scenes thru out the movie. That may not be enough for many. Doesnt anyone critically proof-read a screenplay before millions are invested in making a film?? It sure does not look like it.