Review of Dead Man's Shoes (2004) by Stuart K — 30 Dec 2012
The fourth film by Shane Meadows, who decided to do something tougher and grittier after taking a battering when Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (2002) was a flop, he concocted this mean psychological drama with it's star Paddy Considine, and decided to do it with the smallest crew and budget that was possible.
It works, and it has a raw, unnerving energy that doesn't let up. Richard (Considine) has spent a few years in the army, but he's come back to his hometown of Matlock, Derbyshire. Richard meets up with his mentally impaired brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell), who has been abused and humiliated by a gang of drug dealers led by Sonny (Gary Stretch).
Richard swears revenge, and goes about following gang members Herbie (Stuart Wolfenden), Soz (Neil Bell) and Tuff (Paul Sadot), and goes into their flat wearing a military gas mask and steals their drugs, sowing the seeds of distrust into the gang, but it's not long before Richard starts picking them off one by one.
It's a dark film, inspired heavily by Yojimbo (1961) and First Blood (1982), but it's got a good setting in the Peak District, and although the structure of the revenge movie has been seen loads of times before, the way Meadows tells this story feels fresh and it has good characters and it's got a good score by Aphex Twin.
This review of Dead Man's Shoes (2004) was written by Stuart K on 30 Dec 2012.
Dead Man's Shoes has generally received positive reviews.
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