Review of Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008) by James G — 24 Apr 2010

A shakily balanced film that is salvaged by the brilliant performance of Jim Sturgess.

The poorly structured plot generally fails in trying to chart the progress of a rebellious young Belfast kid into a British informant. The film doesn't adequately answer the difficult questions of conflicting loyalties in the context of such heavy subject matter - Ben Kingsley does his best with what is available to him, yet his character should be made to work harder to win Martin (played by Kim Sturgess) over to his cause, and abandon the ties of the community he lives in.

However, Jim Sturgess as Martin is superb, bringing the isolation of subversion and ideology to life with a memorable performance. The film scores best when Martin is allowed to express the emotional and physical trauma he submits himself to for the sake of a cause that, arguably, is not his own...

Not a perfect film by any means, and other Irish Trouble films will prove to be far more memorable (in particular 'In The Name Of The Father' and 'Bloody Sunday'). A challenging attempt at subject matter that will always weigh heavily in the mind of its audience - with a worthy lead performance and an emotional climax that forces those who watch it to ask themselves what they would value most in their lives.