Dead Man's Shoes
(2004)
review Don't Feed the Dead

After reading all the accolades Dead Man's Shoes received on the IMDB message boards, I decided to dig up a copy and see what all the hype was about. Apparently, this gent Paddy Considine (featured in the upcoming "Wrong Turn" knock-off "Back Woods") has a rather large fan base for some work that I've never even heard of. Truth be told, after watching Dead Man's Shoes, I've bought into the hype as well. Not only is Considine a solid actor that displays a vast array of raw emotions, but he is the antithesis of America's Ryan Reynolds. I don't know why my hatred for Reynolds just popped up, but if you put the two side by side you'd understand where I got the comparison from.

Taking place in current day countryside England, Dead Man's Shoes tells the story of Richard, the ex-soldier returned home to avenge the mistreatment of his retarded younger brother. Much like the younger version of Charles Bronson, Richard is a cold looking man who only has one thing on his mind -vengeance. He knows his enemy, he knows the territory and he is not afraid to stand up to any man or group of men, no matter the circumstances. In such
case, the group of men are a bunch of two-bit blow dealers that abused his brother while Richard was away on duty. However, the story is much more deep rooted than the typical Bronson "Death Wish" plot, where the anti-hero is out to clean up the streets.

For Richard, redemption comes in two forms by eliminating the group of drug dealers. The obvious reason is for the mistreatment of his mentally disabled younger brother, but the second is a bit more complex and cerebral. Even after viewing stock footage of Richard and his brother growing up in a nurtured environment, the audience comes to learn that the older sibling in a sense "deserted" the younger Anthony because he felt he was a burden to him. Only after the harsh realization of the drug dealer's actions against
his brother did Richard regain the kinship that was displayed in the stock videos of he and the younger Anthony growing up. For all you siblings out there that resent their brothers and sisters, Dead Man's Shoes is a harsh wake-up call for reconciling ill feelings.

Even though there was a bit of a dialogue block for me (being a
ghetto-mouthed American), the message and intent of Dead Man's Shoes was so strong, so evident, that one could watch the film with the mute button on and still be completely immersed in the film's content. Naturally, Richard gains his revenge on the thugs, but also finds redemption in a form that will leave the audience applauding the moral message of the film. Let's just say that while the viewer is caught up in the cat and mouse game played by Richard, some rather large chunks of plot development are snuck in under the
radar to set up one hell of a sucker punch at the end. I'm not talking
"Haute Tension" type of twist, but a realization that is both unsettling and yet, in a sick way, satisfying to the viewer.

Slated for a limited release in the United States mid-May 2006, Dead Man's Shoes is definitely deserving of a fan base, whether it be widespread a-la Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrls, or cult build up like the Boondock Saints. In either case, this is a film that revenge fanatics do not want tomiss, as it is easily one of the better foreign storylines to hit the US since Oldboy. Also, keep your eyes peeled for more of Paddy Considine in the Spanish release Back Woods, where he co-stars with everybody's favorite Gary Oldman.