Rent Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

British Revenge Thriller - Excellent - Dead Man's Shoes review by GI

A stupendous revenge thriller by British director Shane Meadows. Cleverly nuanced with a real emotional impact this is a film I highly recommend as it goes far beyond a standard revenge narrative and it captures a very realistic vision of a rundown Midlands housing estate and the sort of petty criminal characters that inhabit them. Paddy Considine plays Richard, a disaffected soldier, who returns to the dilapidated Derbyshire housing estate of his youth to seek out the gang of petty drug dealers that abused and assaulted his younger brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell), who has learning disabilities. The gang is led by the nasty bully Sonny (Gary Stretch), who runs his drug dealing business with the aid of a small group of drug runners. They quickly realise they are in serious jeopardy as Richard begins a campaign to humiliate, threaten and terrorise them. The film harbours a major plot twist, and even if you know what it is the film remains a powerful and heart wrenching story that is worth revisit if you've only seen it once before. Considine is excellent as the borderline out-of-control avenger who stalks the streets and fields of the area in search of his prey but it's Kebbell as Anthony who is the most memorable and his performance may leave a tear in your eye. This is a dark, gripping and tense thriller set in the heart of middle England, a film that leaves an impression.

A brilliant, brutally efficient story of revenge and redemption, with a stunning Considine - Dead Man's Shoes review by Timmy B

Micro-budget, stripped back films with mostly unknown actors usually tend to go one of two ways: they are a complete disaster, with terrible performances & a reliance on shocks to disguise/elevate the material (hence the hundreds of straight-to-DVD disasters that are released every year;) or they are absolute brilliance, showing the incredible drama that can be wrought from a tiny budget, putting blockbusters with 100 times the amount to shame, with films like the nano-budget London to Brighton my absolute favourite. Dead Man's Shoes (DMS) is the sort of film which grabs your attention from the moment it starts until it's final shocking scene, indelibly etched in your mind.

Richard (Considine) is a soldier who returns to his Northern hometown Matlock, reuniting with his brother Anthony, who has severe learning difficulties. Richard quickly tracks down the local drug dealers, a group of criminals who targeted Anthony whilst his brother was away serving, bullying & belittling him. It then becomes clear that Richard is out for revenge, mercilessly hunting down the individual members of the gang for their crimes not only against Anthony, but the town in general.

In interviews, Considine has spoken at length about the ideas which became the script inspired by real-life stories from where he & Meadows grew up, "atrocities which nobody really paid for," in his own words. But rather than it being set in some small American town, like so many of those types of films are, DMS is set in a rundown Northern village, where the industry has long since vanished & petty crime is rife.

One of the many things I love about this film is it's stripped-back feel, which whilst it was primarily due to the tiny crew & budget, also perfectly fits within the story. There are no glamorous mansions or sets, with pretty much everything shot on location using natural light. The colour palette is cold & harsh, just like the action on screen.

This also extends to things like the choice of cars. You might expect that this film would give the gangsters an expensive sports car, as a result of their drug-dealing. But they drive around in an old Citröen 2CV, which only reinforces how pathetic they all are. Even the criminals in this part of the world are not that rich, which in turn means they get their excitement through making other people's lives hell.

As Richard, Considine is sensational. Years of serving in conflicts have turned him into a man who can flick from calm to rage in an instant, demonstrated in chilling fashion during a confrontation in a pub. As he slowly begins to hunt down the gang, he becomes an unstoppable one-man force, someone who you feel could walk through concrete walls, striking terror into the criminal's hearts as he picks them off in ever-more shocking ways.

But just as much praise should go to Toby Kebbell, who took over the role the day before shooting started, after the actor cast dropped out over concerns at how to portray Anthony's disabilities. A role like this is one which is so, so difficult to get right: overplay it and it becomes a grotesque impersonation, underplay it and the impact & driving force of Richard is meaningless. Kebbell absolutely nails it, which makes the abuse inflicted upon Anthony all the more horrific, especially an extremely distressing scene where he is effectively sexually assaulted for the amusement of the gang.

This film is not easy viewing. It is full of menace & threat, cruelty & violence. But this only increases its impact on you as you go on this journey. And never is there any enjoyment to be had from the violence, which so many of these types of films revel in. Every character, even Richard, is damaged & broken, thrown together in a location which whilst on the outside looks beautiful, is full of violence and fear.

This one will stay with you...