Review of Dead Man's Shoes (2004) by Adam H — 02 May 2012

Directed by Shane Meadows and Starring Paddy Considine, Gary Strech and Tony Kebbell, Dead Man's shoes follows the story of Richard (Considine) who returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs who brutalized his brother many years ago.

With average thoughts on 'This is England' and worse thoughts of 'Somers Town' I think it's fair to say that I'm not much of a Meadow's fan. However Dead Man's shoes is quite different from those two film's, displaying a much darker story, with gritty, brutal characters. Aswell as being quite different it's also quite a lot better! This film is by a mile the best of Shane Meadows' work and Considines for that matter.

The story is brilliant, this is mainly due to it's simple yet punchy story-line which never calms down the tempo and just keeps on delivering. Starting at the terrific opening scene where we're shown Richard and his brother walking towards the village, with some unexpected (yet perfectly fitting) music over the top. This sets up perfectly for the rest of the film, which is quite different from the opening! The tension between Richard (Considine) and the rest of the village, that he had a depressing past with, builds and builds, to an eventual terrifying climax. But then instead of dropping the tempo, it starts to build up and up again, past what you thought would be the ending and onto the fittingly sentimental finale.

The perfect mix of brutality and emotion is found in this film, this is down to the Oscar- worthy performance of Paddy Considine. Considine couldn't have played this role better, in one scene he'll be a psychotic man abusing a gang, the next he'll be spilling out his emotions in a scene of sentimentality. In addition to this, he also delivers one of the best performed speeches in film history, delivered with such power and feeling, it's a crime Considine wasn't recognized for his sublime performance in this film.

Although I said previously that I thought that this was Meadows' best film to date, it still however includes his filming technique which I cannot stand and really get's on my nerves. Just like in 'This Is England' the film is shot in a really odd light, the screenplay is either lazy or just realistic because for half the time there're not even talking. It's like your looking onto a conversation, which never really seems to end, or even begin for that matter, as the viewer you feel 'unwelcome' in the conversation, which could be seen as a positive if seen in a different light, but I just found it irritating. It was also disappointing to see that in a film with such a perfect balance of sentiment, and brutality, that it was ruined by one scene which almost seems like the pinnacle, this scene contains unnecessary violence and disturbing images, the scene lasts for about 10 minutes and throughout I found myself recoiling at the film, and for what reason? Their was no reason for the film to show such dark and disturbing images so why include them?

Although I still have a problem with Meadows' style and that one scene, on the whole I think that it was brilliant. Finally getting to see a Meadows film that i'm satisfied with, is enough for me to give Dead Man's shoes.

80%- The perfect blend of brutality and emotion creates for a superb thrill ride which will leave you surprisingly thought provoked.

Calum. Russell.

In Addition- The poster displayed for the film with my review does not do the film justice, it's portrayed as a horror slasher when the film is quite different. Don't judge on the poster!